Teen Driving - What You Need to Know

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act, a law that threatened to withhold federal highway funds from states that failed to increase their minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) to 21. Nearly thirty years later the U.S. Congress will attempt to use the same tactic in order to force states to accept a national minimum requirement for Graduated Drivers’ License (GDL) laws. The STANDUP Act (Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act) is being reintroduced in Congress after being stalled last year.

Missouri is one of several states with GDL laws in place, and has been rated as “Good” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). A few key points of the current Missouri GDL law:

• Three Levels: Instruction Permit, Intermediate License, Under 21 Full License
• Must be 15 years of age to receive Instruction Permit and complete 40 hours of supervised driving to advance
  
• Intermediate License can be acquired at 16 years of age and completed the Instruction Permit stage
  
• First 6 months, only 1 passenger under the age of 20
  
• Second 6 months, up to 3 passengers under the age of 20
  
• Under 21 Full License is available at age 18 upon completion of the Intermediate License

Under the new STANDUP Act you will notice a few changes:

• Age 16 will be the earliest for an Instruction Permit
  
• Only 1 non-family member passenger under the age of 21 during the Intermediate License stage
  
• No driving while using a cell phone

This law is being proposed in order to save teenage lives. In 2009, over 3,400 teens were killed in motor vehicle accidents.

What do you think? Is the GDL a good idea for teenagers? Give us your thoughts on our comments section.