HSB 616 (LSB 5293HC (3) 83)

HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON QUIRK)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to intermediate driver’s licenses and special minor’s licenses, making a penalty applicable, and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.180B, subsections 2 and 3, Code Supplement 2009, are amended to read as follows:
   2.  Intermediate license.
   a.  The department may issue an intermediate driver’s license to a person sixteen or seventeen years of age who possesses an instruction permit issued under subsection 1 or a comparable instruction permit issued by another state for a minimum of six twelve months immediately preceding application, and who presents an affidavit signed by a parent, guardian, or custodian on a form to be provided by the department that the permittee has accumulated a total of twenty hours of street or highway driving of which two hours were conducted after sunset and before sunrise and the street or highway driving was with the permittee’s parent, guardian, custodian, instructor, a person certified by the department, or a person at least twenty-five years of age who had written permission from a parent, guardian, or custodian to accompany the permittee, and whose driving privileges have not been suspended, revoked, or barred under this chapter or chapter 321J during, and who has been accident and violation free continuously for, the six-month twelve-month period immediately preceding the application for an intermediate license. An applicant for an intermediate license must meet the requirements of section 321.186, including satisfactory completion of driver education as required in section 321.178, and payment of the required license fee before an intermediate license will be issued.

A Unless accompanied in accordance with subsection 1, a person issued an intermediate license must limit the number of unrelated minor passengers in the motor vehicle when the intermediate licensee is operating the motor vehicle to the number of passenger safety belts one.  For purposes of this subsection, “unrelated minor passenger” means a passenger who is under twenty-one years of age and who is not a sibling of the driver, a stepsibling of the driver, or a child who resides in the same household as the driver.
   b.  Except as otherwise provided, a person issued an intermediate license under this subsection who is operating a motor vehicle between the hours of twelve-thirty a.m. ten p.m. and five a.m. must be accompanied by a person issued a driver’s license valid for the vehicle operated who is the parent, guardian, or custodian of the permittee intermediate licensee, a member of the permittee’s intermediate licensee’s immediate family if the family member is at least twenty-one years of age, an approved driver education instructor, a prospective driver education instructor who is enrolled in a practitioner preparation program with a safety education program approved by the state board of education, or a person at least twenty-five years of age if written permission is granted by the parent, guardian, or custodian, and who is actually occupying a seat beside the driver. However, a licensee may operate a vehicle to and from school-related extracurricular activities and work without an accompanying driver between the hours of twelve-thirty a.m. ten p.m. and five a.m. if such the licensee possesses a waiver on a form to be provided by the department. An accompanying driver is not required between the hours of five a.m. and twelve-thirty a.m. ten p.m.
   3.  Remedial driver improvement action —— suspension of permit, intermediate license, or full license.  A person who has been issued an instruction permit, an intermediate license, or a full driver’s license under this section, upon conviction of a moving traffic violation or involvement in a motor vehicle accident which occurred during the term of the instruction permit or intermediate license, shall be subject to remedial driver improvement action or suspension of the permit or current license. A person possessing an instruction permit who has been convicted of a moving traffic violation or has been involved in an accident shall not be issued an intermediate license until the person has completed the remedial driver improvement action and has been accident and violation free continuously for the six-month twelve-month period immediately preceding the application for the intermediate license. A person possessing an intermediate license who has been convicted of a moving traffic violation or has been involved in an accident shall not be issued a full driver’s license until the person has completed the remedial driver improvement action and has been accident and violation free continuously for the twelve-month period immediately preceding the application for a full driver’s license.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.194, subsection 1, Code Supplement 2009, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  Ob.  Unless accompanied in accordance with section 321.180B, subsection 1, a person issued a driver’s license pursuant to this section must limit the number of unrelated minor passengers in the motor vehicle when the licensee is operating the motor vehicle to one. For purposes of this section, “unrelated minor passenger” means a passenger who is under twenty-one years of age and who is not a sibling of the driver, a stepsibling of the driver, or a child who resides in the same household as the driver.
    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2011.
EXPLANATION
   This bill amends provisions relating to intermediate driver’s licenses under the graduated driver licensing program and to special minor’s licenses issued for travel to and from school.
   Under the graduated driver licensing program, a person who is 16 or 17 years of age must possess an instruction permit for a minimum of six months and be accident and violation free continuously during that six-month period to qualify for an intermediate license. The bill increases the required period of possession of an instruction permit to 12 months and requires the person to be accident and violation free continuously during that 12-month period. The bill requires that a person with an intermediate license who is operating a motor vehicle between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. be accompanied by a person licensed to drive the vehicle operated who is the parent, guardian, or custodian of the intermediate licensee, a family member who is at least 21 years of age, an approved driver education instructor, a prospective driver education instructor who is enrolled in a qualifying practitioner preparation program, or a person at least 25 years of age with the written permission of the parent, guardian, or custodian of the intermediate licensee and who is occupying a seat beside the driver. If the intermediate licensee is operating a motorcycle, the accompanying person must be on or in a different motor vehicle and be within audible and visual communication distance from the intermediate licensee. Existing law requires an intermediate licensee to be accompanied when driving between the hours of 12:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
   Under current law, an intermediate licensee may transport as many passengers as there are seatbelts in the vehicle, but there is no passenger restriction specified for a driver with a special minor’s license. The bill imposes new passenger restrictions for licensees in both categories. Unless accompanied by a licensed driver as described above, a person with an intermediate license or a special minor’s license may not operate a motor vehicle with more than one unrelated minor passenger in the vehicle. The bill defines “unrelated minor passenger” as a passenger under 21 years of age who is not a sibling or stepsibling of the driver or a child who resides in the same household as the driver.
   A violation of intermediate driver’s license restrictions or special minor’s license restrictions is a simple misdemeanor punishable by a scheduled fine of $30.
   The bill takes effect January 1, 2011.