September 16, 2010
 
TODAY 11 MORE TEENS WILL NEEDLESSLY DIE IN
MOTOR VEHICLE CRASHES INVOLVING TEEN DRIVERS. 
PLEASE CO-SPONSOR H.R. 1895 / S. 3269, THE SAFE TEEN AND NOVICE DRIVER UNIFORM PROTECTION (STANDUP) ACT AND SAVE LIVES
 
Recent Survey Shows High Levels of Support Among Parents of Teens
  
Dear Representative / Senator, 
 
As leaders of organizations representing consumers, health and safety advocates, parents, teens, medical professionals and the private sector we are writing to seek your help on an urgent problem affecting all of us -- our nation's unacceptable death and injury toll of novice teen drivers in every community, large and small, across the country.  At present, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for every teen in every state. Each day 17 people are killed in motor vehicle crashes involving teen drivers, 11 of those victims are teens themselves.    Each year, more than 6,400 people die in crashes involving a teen driver. In the past decade alone, over 84,000 people have been killed in crashes involving a teen driver.
 
Bi-partisan legislation, H.R.1895 / S. 3269, the Safe Teen And Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act, has been introduced in the House that addresses this problem. The bill establishes minimum requirements for state Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws based on recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board and public health and safety professionals, as well as extensive research on successful state teen driving programs.
 
While nearly every state has a GDL law, many states have dangerous gaps in their teen driving programs that put teens and others at risk.  The STANDUP Act encourages the adoption of effective state laws by providing incentive grants funds for three years and a sanction of some federal aid highway funds for states that do not comply with the minimum requirements of the bill, with an opportunity to recoup withheld funds. A similar strategy was used by Congress to encourage all states to enact the National Minimum 21 Drinking Age in 1984, the Commercial Driver's License (CDL) law in 1986, the zero alcohol tolerance law to curb underage drinking and driving in 1995, and the .08 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC) law in 2000. Every time Congress has adopted this approach every state has enacted the law within the time frame allowed and not a single state has lost any federal funds under the sanction provisions. Furthermore, these laws have saved thousands of lives.
 
Additionally, parents support strong GDL laws.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently conducted an important national survey showing that parents of 15-to-18-year-olds favor many driver licensing policies that are stricter than current state GDL laws, as well as provisions in the STANDUP Act.  For example, a majority of parents surveyed believe the minimum licensing age should be 17 or older, a nighttime driving restriction should begin at 10 pm or earlier, and teen passengers should be limited to one or none. 
 
Introduced in the House in April 2009 by Reps. Tim Bishop (D-NY), Michael Castle (R-DE), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) (for the Senate version of the letter: "Introduced in the Senate in April 2010 by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)"), the STANDUP Act is supported by more than 150 national, state and local groups from across the country. Strong GDL laws are a proven method of preventing teen driving deaths and injuries and have been shown to achieve as much as a 40% reduction in teen fatalities.
 
Since the introduction of H.R. 1895 in April 2009, approximately 8,800 people (for the Senate version of the letter: "Since the introduction of S. 3269 in April 2010, approximately 2,400 people") in the United States have been killed in crashes involving teen drivers, and tens of thousands more have suffered serious, debilitating injuries.    The STANDUP Act has the potential to save thousands of lives and spare thousands of families the heartbreaking and tragic loss of a teenage child. It is a rare occasion when one policy decision can so dramatically affect the health and safety of our children.
 
We urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 1895 / S. 3269 and help to pass this legislation now.  Every teen in every state needs to be protected.  Thank you for your consideration.
 
Sincerely,