Committee passes Sen. Brady's teen driving safety legislation         

[March 02, 2007]  SPRINGFIELD -- Keeping young people safer by strengthening the requirements for their first driver's license is the aim of legislation sponsored by state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, and passed Wednesday by the Senate Transportation Committee.

"Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among adolescents," Brady said. "Two years ago, there were 260 fatalities in Illinois from vehicle accidents that involved young drivers between the ages of 15 and 20. Tragically, such terrible statistics are only too real to the citizens of central Illinois. In Tazewell County alone, 15 young adults lost their lives in traffic accidents over a period of 15 months. And, while that was an unusually high number for a county of about 128,500 people, unfortunately, it's all too typical of what is happening across the state."

Based on recommendations by Secretary of State Jesse White's Teen Driver Safety Task Force, Senate Bill 172 will strengthen the state's Graduated Driver Licensing program for young drivers.

"Statistics show that young drivers make up a disproportionate percentage of drivers in fatal crashes when compared to the entire driving population," Brady said. "In 2005, 12.6 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes were between 15 and 20 years old. Yet this same age group accounts for just 6.3 percent of the total driving population."

Senate Bill 172 increases the required permit phase for drivers younger than 18 from three months to nine months, proposes a stricter driving curfew for new drivers, and sets tough penalties -- including license revocation and vehicle impoundment -- for drivers who are involved in street racing. The legislation also imposes increased penalties for new drivers who commit a moving or seat belt violation and prohibits graduated license holders younger than 18 from having more than one passenger younger than 20 in the car for the first year he or she has the permit.

White's task force -- composed of legislators, traffic safety experts, law enforcement officials, educators, judges and victim advocates -- conducted public hearings in Springfield, Carterville and Chicago to study proposals aimed at keeping teen drivers safe.

Passed by a unanimous vote of the Senate Transportation Committee, Senate Bill 172 now returns to the full Senate for further consideration.

[Text from news release sent on behalf of Sen. Bill Brady and received from Illinois Senate Republican staff]