Tougher Rules for Teen Drivers Signed Into Law

For a teenager, few rites of passage can equal the sensation of becoming a legal driver, qualified to slip behind the wheel and motor off down the street--alone. It’s a feeling of pure, unadulterated liberation. And independence.

On Wednesday, Gov. Pete Wilson slapped some new conditions on that privilege, signing a bill that creates new restrictions for young drivers--and, its backers predict, will save lives.

The Teen Driver Safety Act of 1997, authored by Sen. Tim Leslie (R-Carnelian Bay), adds California to a list of 18 states that have tightened rules for teenagers when they first climb behind the wheel.

Supporters say such restrictions have led to dramatic reductions in car crashes that kill and injure minors. Maryland saw such wrecks drop 40%, while Pennsylvania experienced a 69% decline.

“Statistics show that far too many teen drivers are involved in far too many automobile accidents that result in injury or death,” Wilson said. “We need to ensure that teenagers have received the proper training and have the necessary behind-the-wheel experience.”

The law, which will take effect July 1, 1998, targets 16- and 17-year-old drivers--a group that numbered 265,100 in 1995. Among the changes:

* For six months after obtaining a license, teenagers may not carry passengers under the age of 20 unless someone over 25 rides along.

* For an entire year after becoming licensed, teenagers may not drive between midnight and 5 a.m. without someone over 25 in the car--unless the trip is necessary for work, school, family or medical reasons.

* Drivers younger than 18 must hold a learner’s permit for six months, compared with the 30 days now required. During that time, parents must spend 50 hours driving with their child--including 10 hours at night.

* The law affects those who turn 16 on July 1, 1998, or after.

* The law will only be enforced by police if a driver is pulled over for another violation, such as speeding or running a red light. Violators could be fined as much as $50 or be forced to perform up to 24 hours of community service.

Statistics show that teenage drivers are a hazard to themselves and to others on the road. Although minors make up only 4% of licensed California drivers, they constitute 9% of drivers in fatal accidents.

Nationally, car crashes are the No. 1 killer of youths ages 15 to 19. On average, one teenage driver is killed every other day in California.

“This bill is going to save lives,” said Leslie, who called the legislation the most important of his 11-year political career. “I’m confident that it will help more young people live long enough to put on a cap and gown at high school graduation time.”

Although teenagers probably will complain that the law will put a dent in their social life, parents who have lost a child on the road praised the new rules as sensible and overdue.

Bob Ripley’s daughter, Amy, was killed in May at the age of 16 when she lost control of her car on Interstate 80, east of Sacramento, and crashed into a tree. Licensed for just two months, she was not speeding and no other vehicle was involved in the wreck.

“It was simply a matter of her veering, then over-correcting and flipping,” said Ripley, of Newcastle in the Sierra foothills. “She didn’t do anything dramatically wrong. It was purely a matter of inexperience.”

Ripley said he believes that his daughter might not have crashed had she been required to hold a learner’s permit longer and spend more practice time on the road with her parents, as the new law requires.

Steve Kohler, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, agreed that inexperience is a common contributor to accidents involving the young.

“The things that [adults] may recognize as hazards, or the method with which we operate a vehicle at night--all of that is a learned process that an inexperienced driver hasn’t gone through yet,” Kohler said.

The Leslie bill will give teenagers more “time to practice and develop safe driving skills,” said James Molinelli of the California State Automobile Assn.

The bill was named in memory of two teenage passengers killed in separate traffic accidents--Brady Grassinger of Los Angeles and Jared Cunningham of Atascadero.

Jared’s mother, Debbie Cunningham, expressed hope that the law will better prepare teenagers for the road and prevent newly licensed drivers from transporting “carloads of their friends, which is usually when trouble happens.”

“If this law saves one other family from going through the devastation we experienced, it’s worth it,” said Cunningham, whose son died in 1994 at the age of 13.

Other bills signed by Wilson Wednesday will:

* Create a cancer research program and allocate $2 million for the study of ovarian, prostate, uterine and testicular cancers. The funding will support a public-private partnership designed to develop more accurate detection methods for the gender-based cancers.

* Prohibit a person from cloning another human being, at least for the next five years. During that time, a panel of experts will study the implications of human cloning and advise the governor and Legislature of its findings.

* Authorize minors aged 14 and 15 to work as batboys and batgirls, providing that their performance in school does not suffer.

* Require state health officials to develop statewide beach sanitation standards and test weekly for pollution during peak periods at popular beaches. Health warnings will be posted whenever standards are violated, and a toll-free line listing closed beaches will be created.

* Impose an emergency moratorium on commercial and sport abalone harvesting between San Francisco and the Mexican border. Sportfishing for abalone will still be permitted on the North Coast, but only by divers who pay fees allocated for abalone research and poaching enforcement.

* Protect consumers against the expanding crime of identity theft, in which thieves pirate key pieces of a person’s identity by stealing credit card numbers, driver’s license numbers or ATM cards. The measure makes identity theft a misdemeanor and requires retailers to examine and match photo identification when processing a credit application.

* Allow registered dental hygienists to perform basic, preventive dental care outside a dentist’s office for patients who are aged, infirm or otherwise cannot get out.