(1) Existing law, the Brady-Jared Teen Driver Safety Act of 1997, establishes a provisional licensing program and generally requires that a driver’s license issued to a person at least 16 years of age but under 18 years of age be issued pursuant to that provisional licensing program. Existing law requires a person to hold an instruction permit for not less than 6 months prior to applying for a provisional license. During the first 12 months after issuance of a provisional license, existing law prohibits the licensee from driving between the hours of 11 p.m. And transporting passengers who are under 20 years of age, unless he or she is accompanied and supervised by a licensed driver, as specified, or a licensed or certified driving instructor.
Existing law provides limited exceptions to these restrictions under which a licensee is authorized to drive underspecified circumstances, including a school or school-authorized activity or an employment necessity, and requires the licensee to keep certain supporting documentation in his or her possession. Existing law requires a person to complete 50 hours of supervised driving practice prior to the issuance of a provisional license, as specified, and requires the person to submit to the Department of Motor Vehicles the certification of a parent, spouse, guardian, or licensed or certified driving instructor that the applicant has completed the required amount of driving practice and is prepared to take the department’s driving test.
Existing law allows a person without a parent, spouse, guardian, or who is an emancipated minor, to have a licensed driver 25 years of age or older or a licensed or certified driving instructor complete the certification. A violation of these provisions is punishable as an infraction.
This bill would, commencing January 1, 2020, expand the scopeof the provisional licensing program by extending the applicable age range for the program to 16 to under 21 years of age. The bill would exempt active duty members of the California National Guard, the State Military Reserve, or the United States Armed Forces who are at least 18 years of age from the program.
Texas Provisional Driver's License
The bill would also exempt a person who is at least 18 years of age and possesses an ambulance driver certificate, a certificate to drive other specified vehicles, including school buses, or a commercial driver’s license from the program. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2020, apply the requirement to hold an instruction permit for not less than 6 months only to persons under 18 years of age, and would reduce that time period to not less than 60 days for persons at least 18 years of age, but under 21 years of age. The bill also would, commencing January 1, 2020, authorize persons at least 18 years of age, but under 21 years of age, to have a driving practice certification completed by a licenseddriver or certified driving instructor, as specified.
By expanding the scope of the provisional licensing program, the violation of which constitutes an infraction, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides that a person, while having in his or her immediate possession a valid permit issued pursuant to the above provisions, may operate a motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, motorized scooter, or a motorized bicycle, when accompanied by, and under the immediate supervision of, a California-licensed driver with a valid license ofthe appropriate class, 18 years of age or over whose driving privilege is not on probation, as specified.
A violation of this provision is punishable as an infraction. This bill would require an owner or operator of a driving school or an independent driving instructor, as a condition to obtain a new license or renewed license from the department on and after January 1, 2018, to offer and accept installment payments, as specified, for the compensationto provide the instruction required by the Brady-Jared Teen Driver Safety Act of 1997. The bill would also authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles to charge a driving school, as specified, a fee not to exceed $1 for each driver education or driver training certificate of completion furnished by the department and issued to a person who has demonstrated satisfactory completion of a certified driver education and driver training course, in order to recover the department’s reasonable costs in administering the provisional licensing program. The bill would prohibit a driving school from charging an applicant a fee for a certificate of completion that exceeds the fee the department charges the school. (a) According to the State Department of Public Health’s EpiCenter and data provided by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and hospitalizations for California’s children and youth between 1 and 19 years of age and the leading cause of injury-related deaths for children under one year of age.
The EpiCenter data shows that every 10 years unintentional injuries cause the death of nearly 10,000 California children and youth, result in the hospitalization of another 240,000, and result in more than four million emergency room visits, at a cost ofmore than $617 million a year in medical costs and $3.4 billion a year in medical and wage loss costs combined when parents, caregivers, or guardians have to take time off work to help care for an injured child or plan for a funeral. (e) According to the CDC, NHTSA, and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data, first-time teenage drivers who have obtained their unrestricted driver’s license after completing a GDL program, similar to the GDL program in California, have 40 to 60 percent fewer crashes than first-time teenage drivers who have not gone through GDL. California’s GDL program only covers first-time teenage drivers who are 16 or 17 years of age. First-time California teenage drivers who are 18 or 19 years of ageare not required to complete California’s GDL program.
(h) For all of these reasons, and because California’s GDL program has proven to be successful in greatlyreducing first-time teenage driver-involved crashes, the Legislature has a compelling reason to protect all of our state’s teenage drivers, and everyone else who drives on the same roadways, by expanding California’s first-time teenage driver GDL program to include persons who are under 21 years of age, but over 17 years of age, to allow first-time teenage drivers enough time to fully complete the driver education and provisional or restricted driver’s license phase of the GDL program. 11103.5. (a) To the extent required by subdivision (b), an owner or operator of a driving school or an independent driving instructor who requires compensation to provide the behind-the-wheel instruction or driver training instruction specified in Section 12814.6 shall affirmatively offer and accept compensation in installments through the duration of the instruction for up to 12 months from the first date the instruction begins. Final payment shall be due upon issuance of a certificate of completion furnished to the driving school by the department and issued to the person completing the instruction. An owner or operator of a driving school or an independent driving instructor shall not charge any additional amount, in any form, including, but not limited to, interest charges or a processing or administrative fee,for accepting the compensation by installment payments. (b) On and after January 1, 2018, an owner or operator of a driving school or an independent driving instructor shall accept and perform the requirements of subdivision (a) as a condition of receiving a license or a renewal of a license pursuant to this chapter. An owner or operator of a driving school or an independent driving instructor providing instruction for compensation pursuant to a current license the department issued pursuant to this chapter before the date the measure adding this section went into effect shall not be required to accept and perform the requirements of subdivision (a) for the duration of that current license period only.
(d) Except as provided in Section 12814.6, a person, while having in his or her immediate possession a valid permit issued pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a), may operate a motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, motorized scooter, or a motorized bicycle, when accompanied by, and under the immediate supervision of, a California-licensed driver with a valid license of the appropriate class who is 18 years of age or over and whose driving privilege is not subject to probation. An accompanying licensed driver at all times shall occupy a position within the driver’s compartment that would enable the accompanying licensed driver to assist the person in controlling the vehicle as may be necessary to avoid a collision and to provide immediate guidance in the safe operation of the vehicle. (d) Except as provided in Section 12814.6, a person, while having in his or her immediate possession a valid permit issued pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a), may operate a motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, motorized scooter, or a motorized bicycle, whenaccompanied by, and under the immediate supervision of, a California-licensed driver with a valid license of the appropriate class who is 21 years of age or over and whose driving privilege is not subject to probation. An accompanying licensed driver at all times shall occupy a position within the driver’s compartment that would enable the accompanying licensed driver to assist the person in controlling the vehicle as may be necessary to avoid a collision and to provide immediate guidance in the safe operation of the vehicle.
(c) A person issued an instruction permit pursuant to this section shall not operate a two-wheel motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized scooter, motorized bicycle, moped, or bicycle with an attached motor during the hours of darkness, shall stay off any freeways that have full control of access and have no crossings at grade, and shall not carry any passenger except an instructor licensed under Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 11100) of Division 5 or a qualified instructor as defined in Section 41907 of the Education Code. (c) A person issued an instruction permit pursuant to this section shall not operate a two-wheel motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized scooter, motorized bicycle, moped, or bicycle with an attached motor during the hours of darkness, shall stay off any freeways that have full control of access and have no crossings at grade, and shall not carry any passenger except an instructor licensed under Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 11100) of Division 5 or a qualified instructor as defined in Section 41907 of the Education Code.