What’s Different After October 1st 2006?

If you are under 18 and drive or ride in automobiles, the answer is a lot. Here are some examples:

You get the idea. During the 2005 and 2006 sessions of the Maryland General Assembly, several new laws were passed that greatly restrict the way minors can operate their automobiles.

The big picture in MD on the financial reasons for laws like this (from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation,  a for-profit research group, as part of the a project for the Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Interested in finding out who sponsored these laws, who voted for it?.  How a Bill Becomes A Law in Maryland

The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration has a large collection of guides and frequently asked questions available on it's website.  Specifically you may be most interested in their guide to new teen driving laws, learner's permits, and provisional licenses.  Maryland has now joined over forty other states in enacting some type of graduated driving license. Maryland’s new driving laws were recently featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. You can hear this story and listen to other stories about teenaged drivers. You may also want to take a look at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s  “Graduated Driver Licensing: Questions and Answers” (pdf).

Before age 18 you can, with parent’s or guardian’s permission, you can obtain a learner’s permit or provisional license. In addition, Maryland has a graduated driver licensing program. This means that if you are under age 18, you must go through several phases with varying restrictions before the same driving license as an adult.

For more on the provisional license and the learner’s permit program – see the official source the MD Motor Vehicle Administration to read about why programs like this were created, see a national study by Johns Hopkins University of the impact of such a program. Also look at a national evaluation of these programs at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

Minor Passenger Restriction

(House Bill 393) The Maryland General Assembly passed, and the Governor signed, a law restricting who minors can have with them in automobiles. The Law states that if you are under the age of 18, you may not drive a car with passengers under the age of 18.  This only applies to those with provisional licenses and only for the first 5 months of that license (151 days).

There are limited exceptions to this:

If you are pulled over for another offense, the police can cite you for this offense. You may have your driver’s license suspended or revoked.

If you are cited under this law, it is a “moving violation”.

Can I drive my little brother to…? Yes, immediate family members and other family members living at the same address can all drive together. It is the only exception where you can be in a car with those under the age of 18 without someone 21 years or older.

Can I drive my date to the movies… prom… homecoming…? If you and your date are both under 18 years old, you may not drive without the accompaniment of someone 21 years or older.

Can the police pull me over just for seeing several teens in my car? Technically no. The police can only enforce this law as a secondary action. According to the law, the police can only cite you for this if you have already been pulled over for a “suspected violation” of another law. That being said, if you are pulled over, the police are likely going to cite you.

My 14 year old cousin came to visit. Can we drive together? No. The family member exception only applies to family members who have the same address as the driver.

I was at a party and I wasn't drinking.  Can I drive my friends who were drinking home?  While being responsible and not letting your friends drive seems like the lesser of two evils, if you are pulled over and you meet the above conditions, you will be cited for the minor passenger restriction.

I'm not 18 yet, but I just received my full drivers license, does this still apply to me?  No, the new laws only affect those on provisional licenses, not those who have moved on to unrestricted drivers licenses.

How can my friends and I drive any place together? The only way for people under the age of 18 to drive together in a car is if someone over 21 is driving or is sitting next to the driver.

What if I want to drive with someone over 18, but is not 21 or older? Someone under the age of 18 can drive with someone 19 years or older. However, the presence of the 19 or 20 year old does not mean the s/he is an adult for the purposes of this law. This means, that although you can drive with a 20 year old, you can’t drive with the 20 year old and someone else under the age of 18.

What if I'm a baby sitter and a nanny?  What if driving my clients children is part of my job?  There is no baby sitter excepting.  All of the above rules apply.

Drunk or Drugged Driving

The new law passed this year requires that (in addition to the existing penalties in place for those who are found guilty of drunk or drugged driving), you will have your license suspended for one year. If you are charged with a second or subsequent office, the suspension is for two years.  The suspension is mandatory.

So what do the numbers show about teen drinking and driving? 2006 national statistics on alcohol and fatal crashes broken by age and vehicle type (7/06 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

Both Senate Bill 228 and House Bill 310 covered underage drinking and both were passed in the 2006 session.

If you are charged with any other violation that results in a suspension for the same event, the suspension under this law must run “concurrently” (that means “at the same time”).

In addition, a related House Bill 525  created a two-tier set of administrative penalties for drunk driving. Now

•  .08 is the minimum blood alcohol content level for charges under the first tier of penalties, and

• .15 is the minimum blood alcohol content level for the second tier.

Read more on the bill. The bill also sets up and “Ignition Interlock Program” that will allow you to participate in this program and receive a restrictive license instead of a suspension. You must meet certain criteria to qualify.

Using A Wireless Device

This only applies to those with provisional licenses,

If you are pulled over for another offense, the police can cite you for this offence and you may have your driver’s license suspended.

Can the police pull me over just for seeing me use the phone in my car? Technically no. The police can only enforce this law as a secondary action. According to the law the police can only cite you for this if you have already been pulled over for a “suspected violation” of another law. That being said, if you are pulled over, the police are likely to cite you.

What if I use a hands free earpiece? The law specifically mentions “a hands free device” as a prohibited item. If the police see you using one, you can be cited.

What if I pull over to make a phone call? At this point it’s not entirely clear.  The MVA website states "...if you have a learner’s permit or a provisional license.   Pull over to a safe place before placing the call."   However a close interpretation of the actual law may require you turn off the vehicle. The actual wording of the statute says you are prohibited from “operating” a motor vehicle while using a wireless device.

• Section 11-141 of the Transportation Code defines "Operate" means to drive when used in reference to a vehicle. 

• Section 11-114 of the same law defines "Drive" as "to drive, operate, move, or be in actual physical control of a vehicle, including the exercise of control over or the steering of a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle."

In other areas of law, particularly drunk driving cases, simply sitting in the drivers seat with the car turned off but the keys in the ignition has been enough to consider someone “operating” a vehicle.  As cases are tried on this issue, the law will become more clear.

Wondering what is happening in other states on this issue? The Governors Highway Safety Association is a non-profit that maintains a listing of state laws restricting cell phone use.

The issue of cell phone use is hotly debated. Here are some of the opinions found recently.

• An Education on Common Objections to Cell Phone Use - a individual who gathered together materials and summarized them sorted them on the Partnership for Safe Driving geocites page.

• The Impact off Driver Cell Phone Use on Accidents - A Brookings research paper looking at 7,000 drivers with 3 key findings including that the impact of cell phone use on accidents varies by population. They found some overestimation of the positive impact of a ban on cell phone use.

• Is Cell Phone Use in Cars Really Dangerous? - An answer by “Cecil Adams”, the pseudonym for a syndicated columnist writing in “The Straight Dope” for the Chicago Reader, an alternative newsweekly.

• Study Finds That Restricting Cell Phones While Driving May Be Premature  – A 2000 study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis found that the cost of banning cell phone use was about $700,000 for each “quality-adjusted life year” saved. The study was funded by At&T wireless.

• National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration – This federal government website includes discussion areas and a list of papers on driver distractions including cell phone use. It also includes their policy and statement on cell phone use while driving.

• More research on driver distraction including using cell phones - Driver Cell Phone Use Traffic Safety Research Note from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Stopped by the Police? (pdf) - Tips from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU – in MD) on what to do if you are stopped by the police. This covers all situations, including driving.

You should also know the law about refusing to take a test of blood or breath if you are stopped and are suspected of driving while high. (House Bill 525 became law in 2006.)

Finally, you can read more about your rights if stopped by the police at a website operated by FindLaw, a commercial website paid for by attorneys seeking clients.