Teen Driving Forum
Wednesday, September 3rd at 7:00 p.m.
Old Saybrook High School
hosted by Rep. Marilyn Giuliano
Representatives from the General Assembly, Liquor Control, police, MADD, and schools will participate on a panel to explain the new teen driving laws and take questions from the audience. For more information about the new teen driving laws click here.
Teen Driving Laws changed on August 1, 2008
To see the research behind the teen driving issue visit http://www.ct.gov/teendriving/lib/teendriving/cqteendriving1.pdf
Driving laws for teens in Connecticut changed dramatically on August 1st, including a new curfew, increased passenger restrictions, more behind the wheel training, and stronger penalties for violations.
The change that could cramp teens’ style the most is the new passenger restrictions: No friends in your car for a year. If you get caught violating this rule your license will be suspended for 30 days. Do it again? A six month suspension.
Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in Connecticut. After several recent fatal teen accidents, Governor Rell appointed a Teen Safe Driving Task Force who discovered that Connecticut needs to tighten up its teen driving laws.
Statistics show that teens are involved in more crashes at night and with passengers in their car. Therefore curfews and passenger restrictions have been increased. Teens need more experience behind the wheel before they are out on the road, so the Task Force has recommended increasing the hours of required training. On August 1st, an overhaul of teen driving laws went into effect, with the goal of making the roads safer for everyone. in our car culture.
Changes for LEARNER’s PERMIT Holders:
Learners Permit holders may not have ANY passengers, other than a parent, driving instructor, or other adult (20 or older who has had a license more than 4 years). This means if you are learning to drive you cannot have a sibling or any friends in the car. Before you can apply for your license you will now be required to have 40 hours of behind the wheel training (an increase from 20 hours) AND parents must take a two-hour class concerning the teen driving laws.
Changes for 16 and 17 Year Old DRIVER’s LICENSE Holders:
The curfew has moved from midnight to 11:00 p.m. That means any driver under the age of 18 must be off the road between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. (except for work, medical, or religious reasons). Passenger restrictions are doubling in length. Teens can have NO passengers for SIX months (other than a parent or adult 20 years or older who has had a license more than 4 years). After six months teens can drive immediate family members, such as siblings, but no friends. After twelve months, teens can drive any passengers. The penalty for breaking this law now has some real teeth with license suspension for 30 days with the first offense. There are also immediate license suspension penalties for speeding, use of cell phone, or street racing. If you received your license prior to August 1, 2008 you are not subject to the new curfew or passenger restrictions.
For a full explanation of the new driving laws visit www.ct.gov/dmv/ and click on Teen Drivers.
Lymes' Youth Service Bureau
P.O. Box 589
59 Lyme Street
Old Lyme, CT 06371
860-434-7208