Advocates is urging members of the Arizona Senate Committee on Appropriations, Transportation and Technology to oppose House Bill (HB) 2003. This measure would reduce the minimum age for instruction permits by six months to 15 years old. In doing so, it will erode the graduated driver licensing (GDL) law and threaten the safety of novice teen drivers and all who share the roads with them.
Teenagers drive less than all but the oldest drivers, yet their number of crashes and crash deaths are disproportionately high. Per mile driven, teen drivers have crash rates nearly four times higher than drivers aged 20 and older. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), teens are more likely to misjudge dangerous situations or to not be able to recognize hazardous situations.
Conversely, we support the provisions of HB 2003 which raise supervised driving (SD) requirements and the length of time an instruction permit must be held. However, the impact of increased SD requirements is mitigated by applying only to drivers who do not complete a driver’s education program. We cannot support these changes in a context where the minimum instruction permit age is decreased by six months. Based on Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) research, the best practices for GDL include a minimum permit age of 16 and a minimum intermediate license age of 17.
Read the full letter here.
Advocates previously urged House leadership to oppose HB 2003 in February and in January urged the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to oppose HB 2003.