BILL NUMBER: AB 508AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torlakson FEBRUARY 24, 2009 An act to add Section 12814.8 to, and to add and repeal Section 12814.9 of, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 508, as amended, Torlakson. Vehicles: driver education: provisional licenses. Existing law, the Brady-Jared Teen Driver Safety Act of 1997, allows for the issuance of a driver's license to a person at least 16 years of age but under 18 years of age pursuant to the provisional licensing program. Under the act, licensees are required to meet specified requirements, driver education, and training, and are prohibited during the first 12 months after issuance of a license from driving between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. or from transporting passengers who are under 20 years of age, except as provided. The act further prohibits a law enforcement officer from stopping a vehicle for the sole purpose of determining whether the driver is in violation of those restrictions. This bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to collect an additional fee of $10 for each provisional license application. The bill would create in the State Treasury the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund and wouldfurtherrequire the additional fee to be deposited into that fund to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, support the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund Advisory Group and to fund automobile driver's education and training in the public schools, including providing grants to local educational agencies to provide driver education and training programs in the public schools, under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in consultation with the Director of Motor Vehicles. The bill would require the State Department of Education to establish a program to provide the grants to local educational agencies, as specified, and would provide that the department may recover its actual costs from the moneys that would be allocated for the program. The bill would require the Director of Motor Vehicles and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund Advisory Group, composed of members representing specified organizations, for purposes of assessing and recommending strategies to improve access to driver education and training, evaluating the effectiveness of current driver education and training standards and curriculum, and reviewing and making recommendations regarding the regulation of private, Internet-based driver education schools. The bill would require the advisory group to meet and hold public hearings and to submit a specified report to the director, the Superintendent, and relevant policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would require the director and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide to the advisory group necessary facilities and administrative support and would provide that members of the advisory group are subject to the conflict-of-interest provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974. The bill would repeal the provisions relating to the advisory group on January 1,20132014 . Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) California legislators were among the first in the nation to enact a graduated driver's licensing system which took effect in 1998. Graduated licenses have clearly helped decrease fatalities and injuries caused by teenage drivers. (b) According to a study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, states with strong graduated driver's license laws have reduced fatalities of 16-year-old drivers by 11 percent. Significant reductions in fatalities have occurred in states such as California that have a three-tiered driver's licensing system, including passenger restrictions, nighttime restrictions, and longer mandatory minimum permit holding periods. (c) The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in 2006 reported that nighttime crash rates went down 27 percent for young drivers and crash rates with teenage passengers decreased 38 percent. (d) Nonetheless, motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for teenage drivers between the ages of 15 and 20, accounting for 12.6 percent of all fatal crashes according to statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (e) These crashes cost an estimated $40.8 billion in 2002. In 2005, 3,467 15- to 20-year-old drivers were killed and 281,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes. (f) Though young drivers constitute less than 6 percent of California's licensed drivers, they accounted for an average of 21 percent of California's traffic fatalities from 2002 to 2004, inclusive, according to the California Strategic Highway Safety Plan. This disproportionate fatality rate demonstrates the need for California to improve how the state manages younger drivers. (g) The California Strategic Highway Safety Plan stated that one of the key issues for implementation is limited funding for driver education and training in the public schools. SEC. 2. Section 12814.8 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read: 12814.8. (a) In addition to the fees required to be paid to the department upon application for an original driver's license pursuant to the provisional licensing program contained in Section 12814.6, the department shall charge and collect a fee of ten dollars ($10) for the purpose of funding automobile driver's education and training programs pursuant to subdivision (j) of Section 51220 of, and pursuant to Section 51851 of, the Education Code. The department may deduct its actual costs to collect and administer the additional fee prior to depositing the remaining funds into the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund pursuant to subdivision (b). (b) There is hereby established in the State Treasury the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund. The fees collected pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be deposited into this fund and shall be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Department of Education. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the Director of Motor Vehicles, shall expend moneys in the fund first to support the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund Advisory Group established pursuant to Section 12814.9, and shall expend all remaining moneys in the fund to increase driver education and training in the public schools, including, but not limited to, providing grants pursuant to subdivision (c). (c) (1) The State Department of Education shall establish and administer a program to provide grants to local educational agencies to provide driver education and training programs in the public schools. The department's actual costs for administering the grant program shall be paid from the allocation made pursuant to subdivision (b). (2) Priority for funding driver education and training programs pursuant to this subdivision shall be given to public schools where a minimum of 40 percent of the pupils in grades 9 to 12 are eligible for free or reduced-cost meals through the school lunch program of the United States Department of Agriculture. (3) The State Department of Education may adopt regulations to implement this subdivision. SEC. 3. Section 12814.9 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read: 12814.9. (a) The Director of Motor Vehicles and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall jointly establish the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund Advisory Group consisting of local, state, and national experts on highway safety and driver education and training for all of the following purposes: (1) To assess and recommend strategies to improve access to driver education and training, including potential sources of funding for driver education and training programs. (2) To evaluate the effectiveness of current driver education and training standards and curriculum and recommend modifications to improve the effectiveness of those standards and curriculum in reducing the fatality rate among teenage drivers. (3) To review and make recommendations regarding the regulation of private, Internet-based driver education schools. (b) (1) The Director of Motor Vehicles and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall request each of the following entities to provide a representative to serve as a member of the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund Advisory Group: (A) The Department of the California Highway Patrol. (B) The Department of Motor Vehicles. (C) The State Department of Education. (D) The Automobile Club of Southern California. (E) The California State Automobile Association. (F) The American Insurance Association. (G) The Driving School Association of California. (H) The California Teachers Association. (I) The California District Attorneys Association. (J) The California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations. (K) The California Association for Safety Education. (L) The Association of California School Administrators. (M) The National Transportation Safety Board. (N) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (O) The California State Parent Teacher Association. (2) The Director of Motor Vehicles and the Superintendent of Public Instruction may request an entity that is not listed in paragraph (1) to provide a representative to serve as a member of the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund Advisory Group if the director or Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that representation is necessary for the purposes of this section. (c) (1) Members of the advisory group shall meet and hold public hearings, as necessary, to carry out the purposes described in subdivision (a). (2) Members of the advisory group shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses at the state per diem rate and for reasonable travel expenses to attend meetings and hearings. (3) Members of the advisory group shall be subject to the Political Reform Act of 1974 (Title 9 (commencing with Section 81000) of the Government Code) and shall file a statement of economic interests with the Fair Political Practices Commission. (4) The Director of Motor Vehicles and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall provide the advisory group with the necessary facilities and administrative support. (d) On or before January 1,20122013 , the advisory group shall submit a report to the Director of Motor Vehicles, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the chairpersons of the relevant policy committees of each house of the Legislature. The report shall include, but shall not be limited to, the information obtained pursuant to the activities described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a). (e) Moneys required to implement this section shall be made available by the Superintendent of Public Instruction from the Young Driver Education and Safety Fund. (f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,20132014 , and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1,20132014 , deletes or extends that date.