SF 115 –Graduated Driver’s Licensing
HF 14 – Retractable truck axles
FLOOR ACTION:
SF 115 changes provisions of the graduated driver licensing program and to special minor’s licenses issued for travel to and from school. Currently, a person who is 16 or 17 must hold an instruction permit for at least six months to qualify for an intermediate license. During that period, they must accumulate a total of 20 hours of driving accompanied by an authorized adult. The bill increases the required time for holding an instruction permit to 12 months so that teens learning to drive get supervised experience in all four seasons.
Currently, 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 an approved adult, a teen 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.
An amendment adopted on the floor allows parents to exempt their child who holds an intermediate license from this requirement. Exemption with by signified by a symbol on the teen’s intermediate license.
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. [3/27: 41-8 (Chapman, Ernst, Feenstra, Rozenboom, Sinclair, Smith, Whitver, Zaun “no”; Greiner excused)]
HF 14 allows a vehicle to raise a retractable axle when necessary to negotiate a turn, provided the retractable axle is lowered within 1,000 feet of completing the turn. The vehicle is exempt from axle weight limitations while making the turn with a raised retractable axle, so long as the vehicle is in compliance when the retractable axle is lowered. The exemption does not apply on an interstate highway, including a ramp leading to or from the interstate or on a bridge. [3/27: 49-0 (Greiner excused)]