BILL NUMBER: SCR 60CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 10 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 4, 2012 ADOPTED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 2, 2012 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier JANUARY 18, 2012 Relative to California Teen Safe Driving Week. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 60, DeSaulnier. California Teen Safe Driving Week. This measure would declare the first week of April 2012 and that week every year thereafter as "California Teen Safe Driving Week" to correspond with the National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The state would observe the week with appropriate activities that promote the practice of safe driving among teenage drivers. WHEREAS, Law enforcement and other first responders, teachers, parents, and friends are all deeply impacted by the loss of teens from motor vehicle crashes on California's roadways; and WHEREAS, Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States accounting for more than one in three deaths; and WHEREAS, Per mile driven, teen drivers 16 to 19 years of age are four times more likely to crash than older drivers; and WHEREAS, In 2009, more than 3,000 teens in the United States 15 to 19 years of age were killed and more than 350,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes; and WHEREAS, Seventy-seven percent of the 16-year-old drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes in California were at fault; and WHEREAS, Seventy-five percent of all fatal teen collisions are caused by reckless and distracted driving and about 25 percent of the fatalities involve alcohol and drugs; and WHEREAS, Despite the fact that California has the highest rate of seatbelt usage in the nation, 37 percent of the 16-year-old passengers who died in motor vehicle crashes in California were not wearing seatbelts; and WHEREAS, Approximately two-thirds of the deaths of teen passengers 13 to 19 years of age occur when other teens are driving; and WHEREAS, One in three teen drivers are involved in motor vehicle crashes during their first year of driving; and WHEREAS, There is no in-car driver training in California's high schools and although driver's education is required in California's public school curriculum, only about one-third of the high schools actually offer it due to budget and staff limitations; and WHEREAS, A 16-year-old soccer player has had about 1,500 hours of coached soccer practice, but only 50 hours of driving practice before getting his or her license; and WHEREAS, A manicurist is required to have 400 supervised hours of training in order to get a license, but a teen driver needs only six hours of behind-the-wheel driving experience supervised by a professional; and WHEREAS, It is necessary to raise awareness; reach teens, parents, and teachers; and influence change in risky driving behavior in order to reduce the number of teens killed on California's roadways each year; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the first week of April 2012, and that week every year thereafter, be declared "California Teen Safe Driving Week" to correspond with the National Distracted Driving Awareness Month; and be it further Resolved, That with the help of law enforcement organizations, teachers, parents, students, and the Impact Teen Drivers program, a nonprofit organization aimed at stopping reckless and distracted teen driving, the State of California will observe the first week of April 2012 and that week every year thereafter, with appropriate activities that promote the practice of safe driving among teen drivers.