Legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats John S. Wisniewski, Pamela Lampitt and Albert Coutinho that would strengthen the education and practice requirements for New Jersey’s Graduated Driver’s License (GDL) program gained approval by the full Assembly today by a vote of 47-25-2 and is expected to be approved by the full Senate.
“It’s not easy navigating the roads of one of the most congested states in the nation,” said Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee. “As the parent of teenagers, I want to know that all teen drivers are fully prepared to take the wheel on their own when they head out on the Turnpike or Parkway or encounter poor driving conditions. These requirements will help produce better and safer teen drivers, while giving parents greater peace of mind.”
Under the bill, any teen driver under the age of 18 who is applying for their learner’s permit or examination permit would first be required to have a parent or guardian complete an approved teen driver orientation program, which may be done through an approved online provider and would be no longer than 90 minutes. This program also would be available, but not required, for drivers between 18 and 21 who are seeking an examination permit.
“If we want to keep our teens and our roadways safe, we need to ensure that the supervised driving phase is intensive enough to prepare them to handle the road on their own,” said Lampitt (D-Camden). “The enhancements to this program will provide the proper training to ensure that teens have the experience and confidence necessary to handle the wheel by themselves.”
Additionally, the bill would require that the current six hours of certified driving instruction be private and one-on-one instruction. It also would require the MVC, in consultation with the state Division on Highway Traffic Safety, to update and standardize traffic safety/driver education guidelines for public and private schools in the state.
Finally, the bill would extend the permit phase from six months to one year for all new drivers, age 16 to 20, before they become eligible for a probationary license.
“The old saying ‘practice makes perfect’ couldn’t be more true when it comes to learning how to drive,” said Coutinho (D-Essex). “Driving in New Jersey, in particular, is no easy feat. These enhanced requirements will help keep everyone safer, both the teens learning to navigate behind the wheel and everyone else on the road, as well.”
Wisniewski first announced the legislation when partnering with AAA New Jersey to reveal the results of a wide-ranging national study that found parents consider most teens unprepared for unsupervised driving.
The AAA study found that 47 percent of parents participating in the study felt that after the learning stage of the state’s GDL, there was still at least one driving condition for which their teen was not adequately prepared. One in three parent-participants didn’t feel their teen was ready to drive unsupervised on the highway or in heavy traffic. One in five parents didn’t think their teen was ready to drive unsupervised in the rain.
“When almost half the parents of driving age children feel that their kids aren’t ready to get behind the wheel by themselves after the ‘learning phase’ of the GDL, something is seriously wrong,” added Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), the father of teen drivers. “Through this legislation, and with the help of partners like AAA New Jersey, we can work to correct this problem so that it does not continue to result in needless accidents, injuries and deaths.” TLS.
How about these Democrats worry about the illegal aliens in this state that don’t have a license or insurance and most likely unable to read the traffic signs. All the new drivers have insurance and are responsible and can be found if they have an accident. The Democrats should spend their time fixing our boarders and not running the legal residents.
IS THE 50 HOUR DRIVING WITH PARENT, 10HRS AT NIGHT, STILL IN THE BILL ?
ill second that. they are making life unbearable for teens. In michigan they don’t have such crazy restrictions aand they are home to Detroit the motor city.
Yep, the state’s broke, not paying into the pension system.Transportation funds broke, raided to pay for everything but. Highest taxes in the nation, worst schools, the “winner’ being lkwd High..
No jobs, yet what do the Democrats do?
Let’s make same-gender marriage and teenage drivers our top priority!!!
AND THEY KEEP GETTING RE-ELECTED!!!
Are we all nuts?
so we can allow an 18 to join the army, be given a gun and told to kill someone with the permission of the President, but we can’t trust them to drive a car?
Attention Ms Candy Kane (#5)
Wouldnt you rather them being told what to do?
Rather than having them as a loose canon (not shotgun!) in a car aimed at you?
Almost half of parents feel their kids are not ready to drive alone, so we need this stupid law? How do these people get elected? I guess almost half of the people really are as dumb as the Democrats think.
while I can understand some of the motivation behind this ,there are plenty of drivers well beyond there teenyears that should not be on the road also, just look at the situation here in Lakewood ,hardly a day goes by without an accident and most of them do not involve teen drivers !
i think your are all (moderated) or maybe you forgot your teenage years or something. teenagers drive recklessly, and parents can’t neccesarily do anything about it. I remember being in a car accident, where my friend was the driver (and the one at fault). her parents didn’t want to let her drive for a while as a punishement, so she drove her friends car… yes, the system has to be improved.
incredible. If they can goto iraq and drive a vehicle for the army when they are 18 but here they can’t do it here doesn’t it tell you the legislature is messed up? Driving a tank in a war zone is safer than driving a car in NJ ?? I just don’t understand the logic here. What does Detroit know that NJ doesn’t? Makes no snse to me at all.
No one is saying that teenagers should not be allowed to drive; they just need more preparation. The roads here ARE difficult to navigate, at times, for whatever reason, so you can’t compare to drivers in other states. Truth be told, there are more states whose driving laws are more stringent than in NJ. Like any change, it’ll take getting used to. I remember when the GDL was voted into law; there was an uproar about that, too. But now it is an accepted thing. My daughter will be disappointed that she’ll have to wait a bit longer to get her license, but she’ll live.
As far as those who think that the legislature should be busy with more important things: what could be more important than the safety of our drivers? Yes, there are other issues that need to be addressed, but that does not mean that NOTHING should be done in the meantime!
How about just taking the driving test on an actual road with real drivers, instead of just a five min. driving test on a on obstacle course. I could never understand how an instructor could pass a teenager if he is not driving amongst reg. drivers. When I got my license, I had to actually drive on a real street for 20 min. before I passed.
#12 correction. They drive for 5 minues in a parking lot with some orange cones. give them a rreal road test and see if they are prepared for real driving.
Because my family moved a lot when I was a teenager, I took the permit test in several states. I thoroughly studied all the books, and I have to say that the New Jersey permit test was the hardest. (Pennsylvania being the easiest.)