CHP buckles down on provisional license laws

The California Highway Patrol kept a close watch for young
drivers breaking the terms of their provisional licenses this past
summer, according to Public Information Office Kimberly Lemons.
While participants of the AVOID the 13 program celebrated no DUI
fatalities over the Labor Day weekend in Sonoma County, Lemons also
pointed out that teen drivers had also avoided tragic auto
accidents during the final festive weeks of summer.
“It’s these last couple of weekends that we can lose a
teenager,” she said last week. “Knock on wood, we haven’t had this
happen this year. We’ve put the hammer down with teenagers driving
on provisional licenses. Hopefully that’s what’s kept the teenage
fatalities down.”
Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 are granted provisional
licenses after completing their driver’s test successfully. Rules
only allow drivers with provisional licenses to drive between the
hours of 5 a.m. and 11 p.m., and they may only drive with
passengers under the age of 20 if accompanied by a parent or
guardian or passenger 25 or older. Drivers keep the provisional
license for one year, or until they reach the age of 18.
Drivers under the age of 21 also must adhere to zero tolerance
laws for drinking and driving. Any driver caught under the
influence of any amount of alcohol is subject to an on-scene
license suspension. If caught with a blood-alcohol content of
.05-.08 they can be arrested, and an officer can issue a citation
and order a driver’s car impounded for a blood-alcohol content
under .05.
While stricter rules may be prohibitive to young drivers,
statistics show they are among the most dangerous on the roadways.
According to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, traffic
crashes are the leading cause of teen fatalities in the United
States, accounting for 44 percent of teen deaths nationwide.
Another statistic shows that first-year drivers are considered the
most dangerous, with more than one in five involved in crashes.
These crashes are linked to a lack of understanding of the
consequences of risky behavior, inexperience, young peers inside
the vehicle distracting the driver, driving as a social activity,
speeding, and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol,
according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Windsor Police Chief Chris Spallino said Sheriff’s deputies
throughout the North County keep a close watch on young drivers,
checking licenses on traffic stops to make sure the driver is
following the rules. “Obviously with the amount of teenage drinking
and drivers involved in accidents we’re always on the lookout for
that sort of thing,” he said. “When we pull over a juvenile driver
we look at how long they’ve had their license and if they qualify
to have juvenile passengers.”
He also pointed to the Sheriff Department’s Alive at 25 program
and private programs provided by insurance companies as effective
methods of educating young drivers.
Healdsburg Police Department Lt. Kevin Young said officers
cannot legally pull over minors just to check if they have a
provisional license, but that it would be checked in the case of a
traffic stop. “From my experience, officers will stop the car for
any variety of reasons—speeding, talking on the phone, driving
under the influence—and then check the license,” he said. “We would
then write a citation, notify the parent and the driver will face a
judge.”