Teen crash fatalities spur bills

Local lawmakers propose strict rules for younger drivers

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008

In response, state lawmakers are trying to come up with better ways to keep young drivers safe.

These proposals range from giving police the authority to pull over minors who are talking on their cell phones to informing parents when their child gets a ticket, to forbidding minors from driving friends during their first year with a license.

‘‘There is a number of things we need to be doing. I don’t think there is one silver bullet, but the current situation with parents left grieving for the loss of their children signals we certainly need to try something,” said Del. Murray D. Levy (D-Charles) about the six deaths caused by teenage drivers over a 31-day time frame last fall.

And what Levy feels gives the proposed changes credibility is that they were ideas submitted by Charles County students.

‘‘That’s the genesis of this — kids themselves that ride in these cars themselves raised these serious problems and gave these ideas,” he said.

One proposal, sponsored by seven Southern Maryland legislatures would have the Motor Vehicle Administration notify parents when a minor is cited for any moving violation.

The law now requires that parents are notified if the minor was exceeding the speed limit by 20 miles per hour or more.

‘‘No matter who owns the car, parents need to be contacted when their child breaks the law,” said Charles County Board of Education member Jennifer S. Abell, who was surprised when she found a speeding ticket in her daughters’ glove box from August.

But since her daughter was not going over the 20-mph threshold she was never notified — a clear glitch in the law, she said.

The revised law that would notify parents of all moving violations is sponsored by senators Thomas ‘‘Mac” Middleton (D-Charles) and Roy P. Dyson (D-St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles) and delegates Levy, Sally Y. Jameson (D-Charles) Peter F. Murphy (D-Charles) John L. Bohanan Jr. (D-St. Mary’s) and John F. Wood Jr. (D-St. Mary’s, Charles).

‘‘If they’re developing bad driving habits at an early age I would want to know, and I am sure any parents feels the same,” Levy said. ‘‘And what they do with that information is their business.”

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office cannot release information about whether the three teen drivers responsible for the traffic fatalities last fall had prior offenses about which their parents were notified because they were minors, said spokeswoman Kristen Timko.

Another proposal, sponsored by the Charles County delegates and senators, would give police officers the authority to pull over drivers with provisional licenses or learning permits who are talking or sending text messages on their cell phones while driving.

However, there is no way for a police officer to determine what type of license a driver has prior to pulling them over, Timko said.

‘‘All officers would be able to do is use their best judgment. If the driver looks young and seems to not be following the rules of their provisional license then it would allow them to pull them over,” she said.

As the law stands now, police cannot pull over cars on the suspicion that the drivers do not have full licenses if officers witness them talking or sending text messages on cell phones.

However, if a police officer pulls over a driver for another offense and recognizes that he has violated the provisional license rules, then the driver can be cited and could lose his license for up to 90 days.

Ashin Shah, the Charles County student school board member, said he is confident forbidding teen drivers across Maryland from using their cell phones while driving will help.

‘‘Driving while talking on the phone is one of the big distractions for students today, and it’s even worse with text messaging,” he said. ‘‘... Police need the ability to pull over drivers in violation.”

The last proposal, sponsored solely by Dyson, would extend the amount of time it takes for new drivers to gain all their driving privileges — from 151 days to a year.

If passed, the proposal would require that young drivers in their first year on the road would not be allowed to drive any unrelated passengers if a driver older than 21 is not present.

Since it is proposed as a secondary law, police officers would not be able to pull over drivers they suspect are in violation; rather, they would only enforce it if they pulled over the provisional driver for another offense.

Teen driving fatalities fell 20 percent since the 151-day provisional license was enacted, the American Automobile Association told Dyson.

‘‘We’re trying to save their lives again,” Dyson said, justifying extending the limited driving privileges to a year. ‘‘This will be it and the only thing left is to raise the driving age.”

Shah believes the changes to teen driving laws are overdue.

‘‘You never know if this will be the solution, but we can only hope this is a step in the right direction,” Shah said. ‘‘Nothing will stop teens from being inexperienced drivers, but this may start correcting the problem of them having distractions on the road.”

jrabe@somdnews.com

Staff writer Alan Brody contributed to this report.