BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org
When Kansas teenagers get behind the wheel of a vehicle beginning on Jan 1, 2010, they’ll need to keep their hands on the steering wheel and their fingers off their cell phones.
That’s the law.
A new graduated driver’s license law that goes into effect on Jan. 1 will prohibit cellular communication, including cell phone calls or text messages, for teen drivers age 14 to 17. The law does allow teen drivers to use cellular phones to report illegal activity or call for medical and/or emergency assistance.
The ban on cell phone use by teen drivers will be lifted when the teen turns age 17 and acquires an unrestricted license.
The law, which was passed by the Kansas Legislature in March and signed by then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, was promoted at the urging of the Kansas Highway Patrol, which reports as many 40,000 Kansas teenagers were involved in more than 15,500 vehicle collisions in 2008. There were 46 teen fatalities in that year.
The law is part of a new graduated driver’s license system that is designed to encourage stronger education and vehicular responsibility for the younger generation.
Under the new gradauted driver’s license law:
• at ages 14-15, teens can apply for an instruction permit that must be held for one year instead of six months, as it was previously. This insures the teen experiences driving in all seasonal conditions. The teen can only drive with a licensed adult 21 or older in the front seat at all times. Previously, the law didn’t place an age restriction on the adult.
• at age 15, teens can apply for a restricted license, which allows teens to drive unsupervised to and from school or work, but not with any minor nonsiblings as passengers. When teens turn 16, they may drive unsupervised anywhere between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m., to and from work, school and any authorized school activities. They are allowed one non-immediate family member minor passenger. Once these teens reach 16 1/2 years old, if all prior requirements have been met and no infractions have occurred during those months, the restrictions will be lifted.
• at age 16, teens also can apply for a restricted license. These teens may drive unsupervised anywhere between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m., to and from work, school and any authorized school activities. They are allowed one non-immediate family member minor passenger. After driving for six months, if all prior requirements have been met and no infractions have occurred during those months, the restrictions will be lifted.
• at age 17, a teen can receive a full license. An applicant must have a signed affidavit from a supervising adult showing completion of 50 hours of driving, with 10 of those hours at night. Applicant also must pass vision and written exams like all other adults who qualify for a driver’s license.
A provision in the new law also also includes the cellular phone ban for teen drivers under the age of 17.
Like with any new regulations, there will be an adjustment period in which law enforcement officers and the public educate themselves and adapt to the changes, said Col. Terry Maple, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol.
“Some of the enforcement is always on the backhand,” Maple said. “We’d rather have voluntary compliance.”
Teens who already have received or will receive an instruction permit, farm permit or restricted license prior to Jan. 1 aren’t affected by the new system because they will be “grandfathered” into the new law.
The intent of the new law is not to put clamps on younger drivers but to force them to be aware of their vehicle without having distracting devices, such as text messages, taking their eyes off the road.
Jim Hanni, executive vice president of AAA Kansas, cited AAA Foundation research that has found nationally 4,000 to 8,000 crashes occur daily as a result of distracted driving. He said the fastest-growing form of distraction is talking on a cell phone, which increases by six times the risk of being involved in a crash. The risk of driving and talking on a cell phone is much smaller when compared to texting, he added, citing a recent Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study that found text messaging while driving increases by 23 times the chance of being involved in a crash.
“This system will save lives,” Hanni said.
Hanni said Kansas is the 49th state to enact such a graduated driver’s license system, which he feels is one of the better ones in the nation. He said getting a law on the books took awhile because everyone involved wanted to do it correctly.
“We worked for about three or four years on the education process,” Hanni said. “We got a lot of the top researchers in the country and got their input on not only in trying to find out what worked and what didn’t work, but in transferring that information.”
