New Driving Bill for Teenagers

The following Senators here in Indiana (Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle; Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne; and Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage) have authored the bill SB 16 for changes in the teenage driving laws.

The bill was recommitted to the House Committee on Ways and Means and it was passed and now moves to the House for amendments and final passage.

Several amendments were added to this bill since its first introduction including one changing the entrance age for the classroom portion of driver education instruction from 15 to 15 ½ years of age.

Amendments also removed language requiring probationary drivers to display indicators for the first 180 days, signifying they are newly licensed drivers and another amendment added language specifying that an individual who holds a probationary license may not operate a motor vehicle while using a telecommunications device — unless that device is being used to make a 911 emergency call.

This bill has an excellent chance of passing and should help minimize teenage accidents. How to police for cell phone use, texting etc. will be more difficult, but more attorneys are pulling cell phone records for accident investigations.