CINCINNATI, Oh.  (March 11, 2019) – Young driver crash rates in Ohio remain unnecessarily high, leading to an average of 8,300 injuries and fatalities every year. A new bill, sponsored by Reps. Gary Scherer (R) and Michael Sheehy (D) aims to save lives on Ohio’s roads by modernizing Ohio’s young driver license system.

The Ohio House Transportation and Public Safety Committee will hear sponsor testimony on this bill tomorrow, March 12, at 11 a.m. in Room 114 of the Ohio Statehouse.

Background:

A modern young driver licensing system is proven to reduce teen driver crashes, and save the lives of teens and other road users. Unfortunately, Ohio’s system hasn’t kept up with the latest research on teen driver crash prevention.

Consequently, teen driving crashes remain unnecessarily high, putting all road users at risk. Two thirds of those injured or killed in teen driver crashes are people other than the teen driver, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

H.B. 106 would make Ohio’s roads safer by giving teen drivers more experience behind the wheel through two small, but important, adjustments to Ohio’s current licensing system.

• Lengthening the Temporary Instruction Permit phase from 6 to 12 months.
• Ensure newly licensed teen drivers are supervised while driving after 10 p.m., rather than midnight, for the first 6 months of licensure, with exemptions for work, school and religious activities.

Broad Support:

The effort to modernize Ohio’s young driver licensing system started in 2016 when AAA formed the Ohio Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) Coalition. This broad-based coalition is made up of parents, law enforcement, healthcare, insurance and other traffic safety advocates from throughout the state. The coalition identified these two research-based adjustments to Ohio’s young driver licensing system as a way to save lives.

H.B. 293, also sponsored by Reps. Gary Scherer and Michael Sheehy proposed to do this in the 132^nd General Assembly. The bill passed out of the Ohio House Transportation and Public Safety Committee, but didn’t’ make it all the way through the legislature and died at the end of the session on Dec. 31. 2018.

AAA provides automotive, travel, and insurance services to 59 million members nationwide and nearly two and a half million members in Ohio.  AAA advocates for the safety and mobility of its members and has been committed to outstanding road service for more than 100 years.  AAA is a non-stock, non-profit corporation working on behalf of motorists, who can now map a route, find local gas prices, discover discounts, book a hotel, and track their roadside assistance service with the AAA Mobile app (AAA.com/mobile) for iPhone, iPad and Android.  For more information, visit www.AAA.com.

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