SF 115 (LSB 1403SV (1) 85)

SENATE FILE 115

BY  COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

(SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1019)

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, subsection 2, Code 2013, is 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 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 person issued an intermediate license must limit the number of passengers in the motor vehicle when the intermediate licensee is operating the motor vehicle to the number of passenger safety belts.

In addition, for the first six months following issuance of the license, 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 one, except when the intermediate licensee is accompanied in accordance with subsection 1. For purposes of this subsection, “unrelated minor passenger” means a passenger who is under eighteen 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 12:30 a.m. and 5:00 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 12:30 a.m. and 5:00 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 5:00 a.m. and 12:30 a.m.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.194, subsection 1, Code 2013, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  0b.  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 eighteen 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, 2014.
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 to qualify for an intermediate license. During that period, the permittee must accumulate a total of 20 hours of street or highway driving while accompanied by the permittee’s parent, guardian, custodian, or instructor, a person certified by the department of transportation, or a person at least 25 years of age with written permission from a parent, guardian, or custodian to accompany the permittee. The hours of accompanied driving must include two hours conducted after sunset and before sunrise. The bill increases the required period of possession of an instruction permit to 12 months, with no change in the required hours of accompanied driving.
   Under current law, an intermediate licensee may transport only 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 a new passenger restriction for licensees in both categories. Unless 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, 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 restriction on unrelated minor passengers is lifted for an intermediate licensee after six months. The bill defines “unrelated minor passenger” as a passenger under 18 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 $50.
   The bill takes effect January 1, 2014.