Dear Friend: I have just returned from a busy week of committee meetings in Tallahassee. As we move closer to the first day of session, my legislative priorities are coming into focus. This week I filed my second bill.
Let’s Make Florida’s Roadways Safer--The last months of 2009 saw a number of teen drivers and their passengers involved in fatal accidents in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Being a mother of a teenager, these accidents hit close to home.
In Florida we are faced with many distractions on our exceedingly congested roadways that require us to concentrate and be conscious of other drivers and pedestrians. Driving takes skill and judgment that improves with experience behind the wheel. Not surprisingly, the youngest drivers on the road have not yet acquired the skill or the judgment to handle many traffic situations.
Teen traffic safety statistics show that automobile crashes are the leading cause of death and injury to teens in Florida. According to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles report last year, more than 30,000 teens were involved in accidents in 2008.
As such, on January 14, I filed HB 673, which will create a graduation of privileges limiting the number of teenage passengers allowed in a vehicle when the driver is 16 or 17 years old. First, by requiring a three month waiting period to transport any children without an adult in the vehicle, and then by limiting the number of passengers to no more than three if under the age of 18, which will give young drivers time to learn to drive safely without the distraction multiple teenage passengers can pose. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a teenage driver with one passenger doubles the risk of a fatal crash, two passengers triple the risk, and three or more increase the risk six fold.
Under the bill, the law will still allow for a reasonable number of teenage passengers to carpool to work and school and there will be an exception to the passenger limit for a passenger who is a sibling or child of the driver.
Most other states have enacted similar legislation. It is time for Florida to join the majority of the country with graduated driver licenses and enact teenage passenger restrictions. We must do all that we can to protect the lives of Florida drivers.
As always, I appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff if you have any questions or concerns. Our district office number is (561) 470-6593
Kelly Skidmore State Representative, District 90