New Junior Driver Law to Limit Number of Passengers for Teen Drivers

As a leading advocate in teen driver safety for over 75 years, AAA applauds Governor Tom Corbett strengthening teen driver safety in Pennsylvania by signing House Bill 9 (Rep. Kathy Watson, R-Bucks/144^th) into law on Oct. 25, during a signing ceremony at Harrisburg High School.

Pennsylvania’s new Junior Driver Law goes into effect on Dec. 24 – making it an early Christmas present for teens, their families and all Pennsylvania motorists.

Pennsylvania’s Junior Driver Law limits teen drivers to a single non-family passenger during the first six months of driving.  The new law also increases the requirement for teen drivers to have 65 hours behind-the-wheel, from the 50 hours under the current law.  Ten of the 65 hours must be at night and at least five must be in inclement weather.

“We applaud Governor Corbett for acting quickly to sign this legislation and we thank our state legislators, especially Rep. Watson, for their steadfast efforts to reduce teen driver crashes in Pennsylvania,” says Ronald W. Kosh, VP of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic.  “Inexperienced teen drivers are prone to peer pressure, take risks, tend not to wear seat belts, attempt to multi-task behind the wheel and are increasingly distracted by young passengers.  We believe this new legislation will result in fewer teen crashes and ultimately save lives.”

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States.  Studies show that a 16-year-old’s chances of dying in a crash increase exponentially with each passenger added to the vehicle. For example, 16-year-olds driving with one teen passenger were 39 percent more likely to be killed in crashes than those driving alone. Two passenger increases that likelihood 86 percent and three or more teen passengers increases that chance 182 percent. “The teen driver fatality rate is four times that of adults,” Kosh says.

However, it is not only teen drivers, but their passengers and other drivers on the road who are at risk.  In crashes involving young drivers, two other individuals on the road are killed for every teen driver killed.  Two-thirds of all fatal motor vehicle injuries to teenage passengers have occurred with a teen driver at the wheel.”

In Pennsylvania last year, fatalities in crashes that involved a 16- or 17-year old driver increased 43 percent over 2009.  To date, 44 states, including all the states surrounding Pennsylvania, have enacted some form of a teen passenger limit.

Although junior driver passenger limits may put more teen drivers on the road, studies have shown that with a reduced number of young passengers, each of those teen drivers is a safer driver.  In a recent poll of AAA members across the Commonwealth, 96 percent favored teen passenger limits.

Information courtesy of AAA.

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AAA Mid-Atlantic serves 700,000 members in the Philadelphia (5-county) region and nearly four million members in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, with personal insurance, financial, automotive and travel services through 53 retail branches, regional operations centers and the internet, at www.aaa.com/community.