A bill moving forward in the Iowa Senate would change the rules surrounding driver’s licenses for minors to allow even younger teens to take themselves to work without an adult riding along.
Under current law, driving without an adult is allowed for farm work, and to travel to and from school, as early as 14-and-a-half years of age. That’s six months after a teen can earn their initial instruction permit.
The Senate proposal (SSB 3097) would allow driver’s on that license to drive to any kind of job, not just farming. The plan would affect the ability of 14- and 15-year olds to drive to work, following a law passed last year that allows younger teens to work longer hours and later in the day.
“The main drive I had in looking at this is allowing the privilege for what it’s intended to be used,” Sen. Adrian Dickey, R-Packwood, said in a subcommittee hearing Tuesday. “Whether it’s to work on a farm, whether it’s going to school or now the one thing we’re adding to this is the ability to drive to work.”
The bill reduces the distance a teen can drive under the “special minor’s restricted license” from 50 miles to 25 miles to school or a job. Driving cannot be part of the work they perform.
“You can go to work at Domino’s, you can’t drive a delivery vehicle,” Dickey said.
If the bill results in more teens driving to and from work then it’s putting more drivers of all ages at risk according to Chaney Yeast, a lobbyist for Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. Yeast told the subcommittee the crash fatality rate for teens in the U.S. is almost three times the rate for people in their twenties.
“The research tells us there really is a difference in the capability of teen drivers,” Yeast said. “They create a greater risk not only to themselves but others on the road.”
Under the existing rules, 14- and 15- year olds are still able to work, Yeast said, but it’s safer for them to find another way to get to their jobs.
“There’s just more of a burden on families to have to figure out how to get the kids there, but we feel the risks far outweigh the benefits of that burden,” Yeast said.
The bill also changes the hours when teens with the license can drive compared to existing law. Instead of allowing them to drive from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., they would be limited to driving up to one hour before and after their shift or when school activities begin and end.
Dickey said the bill also establishes stronger penalties than currently exist for violating the limits of the permit, causing an accident or breaking the rules of the road.
“If you get caught violating this, not only do you lose that privilege for three months, you lose the ability to get your (16-year-old) license — the one everybody covets — you lose it for three more months,” Dickey said. “Again, trying to make it safer for the people that are on the road and the minors that are taking advantage of this.”
The bill was passed out of the subcommittee and advanced to the Senate Workforce committee.
