Under the lawmakers’ proposal, in the event of a 16- or 17-year-old being ticketed for their first offense of either reckless driving, DUI, refusal to take a breathalyzer, drag racing, or a passenger restriction violation, the police officer on the scene would be required to immediately seize the driver’s license and within 24 hours deliver it to the Chief of Police with a written explanation of the incident. In the event of a subsequent ticketing for any of those violations, the police officer would be required to seize the driver’s license and within 24 hours deliver it to the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicle with a written explanation. The police would also be required to secure safe transportation for the vehicle’s occupants. These would be administrative sanctions that would take place immediately and are in addition to criminal penalties currently in the law.

Following the seizure of the teenager’s license, the proposal calls for the suspension of that license by increasing mandatory lengths of time depending on whether it is the teen’s first, second, or third offense. Before obtaining their license back, the teen would be required to show proof that they have completed a driver retraining program. In addition, a parent or guardian would be required to accompany the teenage driver to get their license back.

“The centerpiece of this proposal is the immediacy of it,” Rep. Mazurek said. “When you are dealing with 16- and 17-year-old drivers, they have to realize the repercussions of their actions, and that should not be delayed by administrative procedures. Front-line police officers need the tools to act on-the-spot when they know that a teenager will cause a danger on our streets.”

Rep. Fox stated, “Our most inexperienced drivers continue to operate motor vehicles at high rates of speed – a combination that often ends in tragedy. We need to send the message that speeding has real consequences and will not be tolerated.”

Rep. Guerrera said, “Teen driver safety is one of the Transportation Committee’s top priorities this year. We will focus on everything from speeding to drunk driving to reckless driving. Safety on the roads is our guiding principle.”

“We have to protect our children at all costs and sometimes it means taking a tough stand,” explained Rep. Nicastro. “Too many children’s lives are being lost due to reckless driving and we have to do everything in our power to stop it. Our children think that they are invincible but they find out too late that it’s not true – it’s very sad. We have to do something about this.”

Senator Caligiuri added, “I am delighted to be working with Representative Mazurek and other legislators in a bipartisan manner as our efforts to address these serious teen driving issues should not be political. Too often, we pick up our newspapers or turn on the news to learn of yet another horrendous accident involving teen drivers. And, sadly, these accidents are too often the result of recklessness and dangerous behavior. We have a responsibility to pass the best laws we can to try to prevent more of these tragedies.”

The group of legislators held a town hall meeting in Wolcott last December at which they heard comments from parents and concerned citizens about ways to toughen laws to prevent teenage reckless driving.

Also included in the legislators’ proposal are changes to the state’s “reckless driving” statute. Currently, a driver can be charged with “reckless driving” if that person is driving at speeds of more than 85 miles per hour. The lawmakers want to add the phrase “or 25 miles per hour over the posted speed limit, whichever is less,” to that statute.