A new Graduated Driver License Law was passed during the last general assembly. This law will take effect on October 1, 2006.
The goal of Graduated Driver License Law is to curb the overall number of crashes involving teenage drivers, especially the high number of deadly crashes with teen involvement.
Kentucky currently has one of the highest teen crash rates in the nation. Teenage drivers account for only 6 percent of the state’s driving population, yet they are involved in about 18 percent of fatal crashes in Kentucky and more than 20 percent of all highway crashes in the state.
The Graduated Driver License Law creates an intermediate period of six months between the learner’s permit and a full, unrestricted license. During the intermediary phase, teenagers will have a full license with two restrictions on their driving privileges. One of the restrictions stipulates no driving from midnight to 6 a.m., except in cases of emergency. Also, the teen driver will be allowed no more than one unrelated passenger under the age of twenty.
Transportation Cabinet Secretary Bill Nighbert, underlined the success other states have had with a Graduated Driver’s License Program. “North Carolina and Michigan, for example, have done studies that show as much as a 25 percent reduction in crashes involving 16-year-old drivers, after passing GDL legislation,” said Secretary Nighbert. “These are the kind of positive results we’re striving for in Kentucky.”

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LifeSavers April 2006 - PowerPoint presentation

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