STANDUP Act supported at Congressional awards event
The Safe Teen And Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act received strong endorsement from several members of Congress and others at an event on May 26 commemorating the twentieth anniversary of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Advocates honored members of Congress who have made a significant contribution to advancing highway and auto safety over the past two decades by presenting "Highway Safety Leader" awards.
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Representative Michael Castle (R-DE), Representative Tim Bishop (D-NY), Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and retired Senator John Warner (R-VA) all mentioned the STANDUP Act and called for its enactment in their remarks. Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) also urged Congress to enact STANDUP "to move all states toward the best GDL laws possible." Senator Cullerton noted that "when it comes to public health and safety matters, both federal and state governments need to jump in to save lives."
Teens representing Camp Fire USA, Isabel Hammond and Brianna Walker, along with Andrew
Schantz of the youth organization Family, Career, and Community Leaders
of America, assisted in the presentation of the awards to Sen. Klobuchar and Rep. Bishop. Awards to Rep. Castle and Rep. Van Hollen were presented by Susan Vavala of Delaware and Captain Tom Didone of Maryland. Ms. Vavala and Captain Didone, both of whom lost teen children in crashes involving inexperienced teen drivers, also spoke at Advocates' press event earlier in the day. (For more information, go to www.saferoads.org)
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Pennsylvania state Senate waters down GDL bill
The Pennsylvania state Senate this week approved an amended version of HB 67, which originally contained several provisions to improve the state's Graduated Driver Licensing program.
The Senate amendments changed the ban on teen cell phone use and texting behind the wheel from a primary offense to a secondary offense. This means that law enforcement officers could only ticket a teen driver for cell phone use or texting if they were pulled over for some other reason.
The Senate also significantly changed the HB 67 provision to limit the number of young passengers a teen driver can have. HB 67 would have prohibited teens with "junior licenses" from driving with more than one non-related person under the age of 18. The Senate amendment includes that lifesaving provision, but only for the first six months after licensure. After that, junior license holders would be able to carry up to three non-related people under age 18.
State Representative Josh Shapiro, a co-sponsor of HB 67, said that the Senate amendments "ensured that people would continue to die on Pennsylvania's roadways." The weakened legislation now goes back to the state House of Representatives.
The York Dispatch ran an editorial on May 26 blasting the state Senate for watering down what could have been lifesaving legislation. Click here to read the article.
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