Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/05/1997 02:10 PM House TRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 11 - DRIVERS LICENSE REQUIREMENTS FOR MINORS Number 0050 CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS said HB 11 sets up a provisional driver's license system. Number 0156 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said a similar bill to HB 11 was presented last year, went through the House and languished during the last part of the 19th Legislature. He said he did not believe that anything negative was heard in the Senate or the House as to the content, but that it was one of many bills that died for lack of time. He said HB 11 establishes a graduated licensing program, a method that will reduce the number of teenage deaths and number of teenage caused accidents. He said this type of licensing has been enacted in several other states. Those states have seen a noticeable change in the number of teenage accidents. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN says HB 11 targets the 16 and 17-year-olds which comprise the highest risk. He said a 16 or 17-year-old has far better reflexes and can learn to drive a car as well as an adult, but it appears may they lack attention in perhaps two areas; they are driving a lethal killing machine and their lack of attention to details while they are driving. This age group is easily distracted by their peers. He said HB 11 will give them a probationary period of one year to prove to society and the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), that they are mature enough to drive responsibly. He said it is no different in principle than the program where certain school grades will allow insurance companies to reduce the premium for a teenager. Insurance companies feel that maintaining a `B' average or above means that those teenagers are mature enough to realize the responsibilities associated with driving. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said statistically the number of accidents reduces after a single male driver reaches the age of 25, when he is of "mature age." He said if he marries, then statistically he seems to mature earlier. In essence, HB 11 says that if a young adult at 14 or 15-years-old decides they would like to get a driver's license they would have to apply and get a learner's permit which comes with the restriction that they would have to be accompanied by a licensed driver. He said, if they can show their proficiency, at age 16 they would be granted an intermediate license. Currently, they would be granted "full driverhood." REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said at 16, teenagers would be granted a provisional license with two restrictions. The first provision is that they cannot be driving between the hours of 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. unless they are going directly to and from their place of employment. He said Alaska has narrowed this restricted time as compared to other states. He said this time period is the time of greatest accidents because of the seasonal differences in Alaska. He said the other provision is that a teenage driver would receive points on their driving record, the same as an adult, but that if they receive 8 points and have not made any restitution then the license would be subject to being revoked. He said the point limit is currently 12 for a full license. He said HB 11 creates these restrictions for a one year period, falling between the ages 16 and 17. He said if a teenager chooses to get their license at age 17, they would still have one year of these restrictions. He said these provisions are going to separate teenagers who are habitual lawbreakers, from the vast majority who drive responsibly, in order to reduce the number of accidents. Number 0681 REPRESENTATIVE JOHN COWDERY asked how teenagers would be rejected for a driver's license in terms of passing or failing the test. He asked what fees would be associated with this provisional licensing. Number 0722 JUANITA HENSLEY, Chief, Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Public Safety, said the provisional license stage requires an instruction permit. She said the state of Alaska does not currently require an individual instruction permit. She said at the point that they are eligible, on their 16th birthday, they would be issued a provisional license. They would be required, if they did not have an instruction permit, to take the written and behind the wheel skills test. She said DMV would then issue them a one year restricted license, a provisional license, with the curfew and the eight point violation free period of time. She said after that one year, the restrictions would be lifted and the teenager would be issued a full, unrestricted driver's license. Number 0785 REPRESENTATIVE COWDERY asked what the cost of the fees were associated with the various steps. Number 0786 MS. HENSLEY said the fees would be the same as they are now. An instruction permit is a $5 fee, a driver's license is a $15 fee with a $15 road test fee and then once they got their unrestricted license it would be a $10 re-issue for a duplicate fee, to get the provisional restrictions off their license. Number 0812 REPRESENTATIVE COWDERY referred to the fiscal note and asked about the nature of the positions required for this program, where will they be held and why the staff are full time as opposed to part time. Number 0826 MS. HENSLEY said the half time position that is listed on the DMV fiscal note is a full time position, but only funded for a half a year during the first year. She said HB 11 would not take effect until January 1, 1998, so only six months of funding are needed. She said it would be full year funding for the next year on that position. That position is slated to be hired in the Anchorage DMV field office since that is where the majority of the state's youth are located. The staff would handle the reduplicating of the license at the time they go from the provisional license to a full license. REPRESENTATIVE COWDERY said he questioned the fiscal note because we now have a law where you can buy a license plate for more than one year. He said this, in conjunction with the driver's license, creates a fiscal note that is a little steep. Number 0971 MS. HENSLEY said the fiscal note has $77,000 from federal grants that will be received from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. She said the actual general fund dollars being required are $39,000 for the full year and $31,000 for the first year to get things set up. Number 1007 REPRESENTATIVE COWDERY expressed concern over the expenditures. Number 1027 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN clarified that the upper part of the fiscal note was revenue and the bottom part expenses. MS. HENSLEY said the projected new revenues are $163,000 just from the re-issuance fee on the driver's license. Number 1033 REPRESENTATIVE BEVERLY MASEK asked about the age change from 19 to 22. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said currently the age was 19-years old, the maturity age is believed to be 25-years old, so 22-years old was seen as a compromise that the Senate developed last year. He questioned what age a person should be when they accompanied a new driver. He said his personal view is that person should be age 25 while others feel 19 is a satisfactory age. Number 1090 REPRESENTATIVE MASEK said the age to legally drink alcohol is age 21 and said the age of 22 just seemed to stand out. She cited examples where a teenager with a provisional license might be driving between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Number 1157 MS. HENSLEY said HB 11 only affects 16-year olds and 17-year olds. She clarified that a person with a provisional license would not be subject to these provisions if an adult of 22-years old or older was in the car with them. She said Alaska tends to allow youth to learn by trial and error. She said there are places that have private driving education courses, but these courses are not always affordable to everyone. She said lives have been lost due to inexperience on the part of the driver. She said 6.2 percent of licensed drivers are between the ages of 16 and 20 in Alaska, but they cause or are involved in the majority of crashes. Number 1263 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN handed out some information titled, "Adolescent Health Research Updates," that he received yesterday. He said the mayor's task force on youth unanimously supported HB 11. He said driver's education alone increases the number of teenage accidents which probably due to the fact that more teenagers get licenses as a result of driver's education. Number 1309 REPRESENTATIVE MASEK referred to proposed bills which would move and privatize DMV and asked how HB 11 would be affected if those bills passed. Number 1345 MS. HENSLEY said EO 99 would move DMV to the Department of Administration from the Department of Public Safety and added that this is supported by DMV. She said this would give DMV the initiatives needed to get technologies which allow for private contracts so that people can have the option as to whether they want to stand in line at DMV or to go somewhere to get the test administered. Number 1378 REPRESENTATIVE MASEK asked how EO 99 would impact HB 11. MS. HENSLEY said EO 99 would have no impact on HB 11. Provisional licensing would be handled the same whether it was in-house or done by a private contractor. Number 1405 REPRESENTATIVE KIM ELTON asked how HB 11 affects motorcycles, snow machines, All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) and other non-traditional vehicles. Number 1433 MS. HENSLEY said motorcycles are subject to the same licensing standards as a passenger car license. She said ATVs or snow machines are not subject to HB 11, unless they are being operated on a road or a vehicular way. She said certain villages and communities have city ordinances that an individual can operate their snow machines on the roadways. She said snow machines and ATVs are still subject to the same Title 28 laws and the rules of the road laws as if a person were operating a vehicle. Snow machines, three wheelers and four wheelers are not allowed to operate on the highway system. REPRESENTATIVE ELTON clarified that if a 16-year old or 17-year-old wanted to operate their snow machine or ATV on a road, then they would be subject to the provisional licensing. He said HB 11 might work better in urban areas. He said there are many situations in rural areas which depend on resource extraction or resource use and HB 11 could hurt a family enterprise. He said if the father is operating a troller out of Tenakee and radios in with a request for three oil filters and wrenches, he then questioned whether or not the kid would be able to deliver those things. Number 1545 MS. HENSLEY said the teenager could probably get a waiver from their father that they were acting in behalf of their employment. She said an examination would have to be done to determine the level of enforcement in the village. She said a driver's license would be required if they are operating on a vehicular way. Number 1579 REPRESENTATIVE ELTON cited a scenario where a teenager goes to pick up his father from the ferry at 3:00 a.m. and clarified that the teenager would not be able to drive if they had a provisional license. MS. HENSLEY said that as long as the teenager was accompanied by someone over the age of 22 he or she could drive during that time period. She said it is only a one year period of time. Number 1625 REPRESENTATIVE AL KOOKESH said he was uncomfortable with setting the age at 22 rather than 19. He said there were probably reasons why it was set at 19 when it was put into law. He said there are offroad system licenses which are not provisional or full licenses and not even instructional permits. He said this should be covered in Section 6. Number 1692 MS. HENSLEY said there is an offroad system licenses throughout Alaska. She said they are still subject to the motor vehicle laws. She said this type of license specifies that this type of license does not allow them to drive where there is a regular, maintained road system that has access to a DMV field office. She said, under the HB 11 provisions, an offroad systems licenses would still have the provisional license restrictions. Number 1749 REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH repeated that he wanted to know the rational for choosing age 22 over age 19. He said he is uncomfortable with change for change sake and being so restrictive. Number 1787 MS. HENSLEY said the previous legislation had the age of 25 on the proposed bill, Representative Green's rational was that at age 25 you are mature enough that your insurance rates drop. She they wanted to change the age from 19 because it was felt at that age there was not enough maturity, especially if there were younger teenagers in the car, to train someone to drive. She said age 22 was selected because although they agreed more maturity than 19 was needed age 25 was too high. She said the Senate choose a number because they felt that was the level when most people graduated from colleges. Number 1865 REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH commented that although we feel at age 17 we can give someone a driver's license, we do not feel that they can train someone with an instructional permit. Number 1879 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN disagreed with that opinion. Number 1903 REPRESENTATIVE BILL HUDSON asked if the state of Alaska had reciprocity with the states of Washington, Idaho or Oregon concerning HB 11. Number 1940 MS. HENSLEY said there is a whole chapter in Title 28, chapter 28.37, dealing with reciprocity in the driver's license compact with all the states in the United States. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON asked if the other states provided a full license at the age of 18. MS. HENSLEY said the state of Washington does full licensures at the age of 18. If the teenager has had a license for a year under another state's licensed, then they would be issued an unrestricted license in Alaska. Number 1960 REPRESENTATIVE JERRY SANDERS suggested a scenario where a teenager received their provisional license when they were age 17 and accumulated eight points in ten months. He asked if they would lose that license. Number 1977 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said the teenager could attend a training class and receive a point reduction. He said the teenager would get warned at four points. He said the teenager could lose their license. REPRESENTATIVE SANDERS continued his scenario and asked if the date that you were issued your license and the time when you go through the provisional period created inequalities. Number 2025 MS. HENSLEY said it is during this one year provisional period that 16-year olds and 17-year olds are only allowed the eight points. She said they lose their license at eight points when they are two months short of their 18th birthday. She said they could get a re- instated license back again at 18 because they would be at a 12 point level with the full driver's license. She said eight points is a lot of points. Number 2070 REPRESENTATIVE SANDERS expressed concern about the number of young people that would be affected by these provisions. Number 2076 MS. HENSLEY said the teenager would receive a warning at the four point level suggesting that they take remedial action to prevent problems further down the road. They would be offered a defensive driving course with a two point reduction. She said if they reach an eight point level and receive a point system suspension they would also be told then that they can take a defensive driving course. She says the state does not want to suspend licenses as it costs too much. Number 2113 CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS said it is his intention to move HB 11 today. Number 2179 MARK JOHNSON, Chief, Community Health and Emergency Medical Services, Division of Public Health, Department of Health and Social Services, said community health and emergency medical services supports HB 11. He said they see this issue as a public health as well as a public safety issue. Injury is the number one cause of hospitalization and death for teenagers in this state. Motor vehicles are the number one cause of hospitalization for teenagers and motor vehicle crashes are the number two cause of death following suicide. He said they receive information from every hospital in the state, plus vital statistics and said their information is consistent with what is received on the national level which shows that 16-year olds and 17-year olds are much higher accident rate than the older adult population. He said he could supply Alaskan statistics to the committee if they wished. Number 2232 JOHN GEORGE, Lobbyist, National Association of Independent Insurers, was next to testify. He said HB 11 will have a significant impact on accident rates, it will show kids that learning to drive is an important concept and if they learn to drive under good guidance these skills will stay with them the rest of their lives. If you learn to drive recklessly when you are 16- years old it might take a lot of years to drive safely. Number 2278 REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON made a motion to move HB 11 out of committee with attached fiscal note. Number 2283 REPRESENTATIVE ELTON objected to make a comment. He said he is bothered by the curfew restriction and said it is making everyone suffer because of a few bad drivers. He removed his objection. Number 2317 Hearing no further objections, HB 11 was moved from the House Transportation Standing Committee.
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