By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- So when it comes to being behind the wheel of a car, how young is too young?
Rep. Nick Kupper says he believes that it shouldn't be necessary for teens to have to wait until 15 1/2 to get a learner's permit. So the Surprise Republican has introduced legislation to allow them to start driving -- with adult supervision -- six months earlier than that.
But there's a tradeoff.
His HB 2003 would require that teens operate with that adult supervision for at least nine months before they can get apply for an actual driver's license. That's three months longer than what is allowed now.
And he believes all of that will actually lead to fewer teens winding up in crashes.
It starts, Kupper told Capitol Media Services, with 34 states already allow a learner's permit to be issued earlier than Arizona.
"Those 34 states tend to have lower fatalities per vehicle miles traveled for teens than we do,'' he said.
Kupper also claims there is statistical evidence in Arizona.
It starts, he said, when the state created its Class G driver's license which provides for limited driving privileges for those between 16 and 18. That also included having a learner's permit that could be issued at 15 years and 7 months.
"And when they implemented that, our teen fatalities and overall fatalities went down dramatically,'' Kupper said. And he said the fatality rate went down a bit again after a 2008 change in the law that set the age for a permit at 15 years and 6 months.
The way he figures it, if someone is issued a permit at age 15, that means a full year of driving with adult supervision -- one of the conditions of having a permit -- before a regular license can be issued. And even if they don't get a permit right at 15, his legislation would not allow them to apply for a regular license until they have at least nine months with a permit, three months more than now required.
Whether Kupper's premise that all this will result in fewer accidents, however, remains to be seen.
In fact, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety predicts the opposite result. Its data based on results from all states with all different permit ages figure that allowing teen drivers to get a permit actually would increase the number of crashes by 2% -- and fatal crashes by 7%.
And what of Kupper's claim that more months with a permit translates to more practice hours?
Becca Weast, a senior research scientist with IIHS, says that's not necessarily true.
Arizona law spells out three ways to get the requisite practice time before seeking a license.
One is for a parent to certify that the teen has completed at least 30 hours of supervised practice, with at least 10 of those at night.
A second is a combination: completion of a defensive driving course or traffic survival school plus 10 hours of practice with six at night.
The third is to complete a driver education program, whether private or school-based, approved by the state Department of Transportation, which also requires 10 hours of road time.
But Weast points out that while HB 2003 would provide the opportunity for six more months of supervised practice, nothing in the bill would increase the time a teen actually needs to spend behind the wheel with a parent or guardian.
"There is no evidence in either direction that more time uniformly equals more practicing,'' she said.
"The amount and the quality of practice that is going on is incredibly variable from family to family,'' Weast said. "And nobody has actually quantified whether or not getting people more time to do it would mean that they got more practice in.''
It is true, she said, that adding six months to the period someone has a learner's permit creates at least the opportunity for more practice.
"But if you're not then requiring that more be done and certified, there's no reason for people to do that,'' Weast said.
Kupper acknowledged that there could be other factors at work in the data he is using to show lower fatality rates as the age for a learner's permit has been decreased in Arizona.
A big one is the creation of the Class G licenses in 1999.
Prior to that, once teens passed the written and driving portions of the test they got the same license as any other adult. Now, the license given to new drivers for the first six months or until they turn 18 has restrictions, like no driving between midnight and 5 a.m., no more than one passenger younger than 18 in the vehicle except for family members, and no use of cell phones while driving except in emergencies.
Kupper also noted that vehicles have more safety options now.
This isn't the first time lawmakers have looked at the issue. In 2016, Kelly Townsend, then a Republican representative from Mesa, introduced similar legislation to allow teens to get a learner's permit at 15.
Her plan ran into opposition from several of the state's major insurance companies which lined up to kill the measure. It also drew opposition from the Arizona chapter of the National Safety Council.
"They just feel that maturity levels are not sufficient for putting a 15-year-old on the road,'' lobbyist Janna Day said of her organization's position.
There actually was a more recent effort to boost what teens know -- at least a little bit -- before they get a license.
A 2024 proposal by Rep. John Gillette, R-Kingman, would have required that all would-be drivers pass an online course of at least four hours approved by the Motor Vehicle Division before being able to take the written and road portions of the test to get their first license.
That was prompted by the testimony of Amy Shuffler of Kingman who told lawmakers that her 16-ear-old son Brady was the driver of a vehicle with five other teens following a sports event last year. She said he was speeding, lost control, and hit a utility police, leaving two teens dead and two others seriously injured.
Brady survived, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Gillett's bill would not have increased the hours of parental supervision for those who have learner's permits. But it was designed to ensure that those getting a license actually know the things they're supposed to know -- things that Brady didn't -- like not driving with more than one teen in the car with a restricted Class G license.
But that proposal, which also did not boost the number of practice hours before being eligible to get a license, failed to get a majority in the House on a final vote.
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