Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- State lawmakers expressed concern over a bill allowing new teen drivers to have friends in the car.
- The House Transportation Committee voted unanimously to hold the bill for further clarification.
- Supporters cite safety benefits, while opponents highlight increased risk of accidents.
SALT LAKE CITY – Some Utah lawmakers expressed concern about a bill allowing new teen drivers to have friends in the car with them.
HB308, sponsored by Rep. Jill Koford, R-Ogden, would allow those drivers to have one passenger who's not an immediate family member. Currently, Utah law forbids new drivers under 18 from having any friends in the car for the first six months.
But the House Transportation Committee voted unanimously Monday to hold the bill and not advance it at this point. A similar bill failed to pass the Utah Legislature last session.
Teen drivers take a special sort of patience, said Utah mom Diane Livingston.
"I worry about these turkeys that are on the road, and I had several of them," Livingston told the House committee during Monday's hearing.
The mother of six asked lawmakers to leave the law in place forbidding new teen drivers in Utah from having friends in the car for the first six months. Livingston said her kids regularly pushed her to let them do otherwise.
"I would say, 'Sorry, it's the law,'" Livingston said. "It was just so comforting for me to have somebody else say 'no' because I wanted to say 'no.'"
But Koford said it's a safety issue when teens can't take a friend or "copilot" with them in the car.
"When we have kids driving from Garden City to Logan — and we're forcing them to drive alone when there's no cellphone service — that's concerning for me," Koford said.
What the data shows
Chris Caras, director of the driver's license division in the Utah Department of Public Safety, spoke in support of the bill because he said it falls in line with national best practices.
Robyn LaLumia, director of Utah's Highway Safety Office, added that over 10 years, 38% of teen-involved crashes included a passenger, while 62% did not.
"It's kind of hard to quantify that the passenger had any bearing on the crash," LaLumia said.
However, she later clarified to KSL-TV, it's unknown how many of the passengers in those crashes were fellow teenagers or not.
Mike Sonntag, who represents several insurance companies, opposed the bill. He said insurance company data paints a more chilling picture for teen drivers.
"Every teenager you add doubles the risk of injury and/or death," Sonntag said.
Utah's Zero Fatalities campaign, which aims to eliminate deaths on the road, shares that same statistic.
Concerns from lawmakers
Rep. Rosalba Dominguez, D-Salt Lake City, said she has a teenager who has already gotten into a crash.
"I don't trust necessarily that having another teenager in the car is going to help with that," Dominguez said.
Rep. Ashlee Matthews, D-West Jordan, explained her personal reasons for opposing HB308.
"I had a brother who passed away when he was 16. His 16-year-old friend was the driver," Matthews said. "I have a lot of concerns with this bill."
As the hearing wound down, Rep. Ariel Defay, R-Kaysville, moved to hold the bill. Defay said there seemed to be "confusion around some of the language," and she urged Koford to "make some clarifications and get it ready for prime time."
The House committee voted 11-0 to hold the bill. Koford said she'll work on it. Her bill also seeks to let teens with a learner's permit drive with adults other than a parent in certain cases.
"I may or may not take the language out" regarding having friends in the car, Koford told the committee, "and we'll come back again."
