Tough training urged for teenage drivers

CARSON CITY -- A woman whose daughter was killed by a teenage driver urged a Senate committee Tuesday to toughen the law on licensing young motorists.

Cecilia Hackman said she doesn't want any other family to go through what her family suffered after the death of her daughter, Erin. "It's been a long three years," she told the Senate Transportation Committee, which heard testimony on Assembly Bill 552.

Hackman's daughter was the passenger in a car driven by an inexperienced girl that went through a stop sign and hit a telephone pole near Gardnerville.

"This has been very difficult to go through," she said.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill O'Donnell and Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske, both Las Vegas Republicans, calls for increased standards for getting a license for those 16 to 18 years old.

AB552, which has passed the Assembly, would restrict teens for four months from transporting passengers under 18. For the first year, teens would not be allowed to drive from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. unless accompanied by an adult licensed driver.

A learner's permit is still available at 15 1/2 years old.

Some exceptions are written into the bill. Teens may drive members of their own family during the restricted period, and they could drive at night in cases of a medical emergency or to attend school or work.

Cegavske called the law another "small step" toward better highway safety.

Richard Shrader, representing the California State Automobile Association, said children are easily distracted by other teens. Six percent of Nevada's licensed drivers are teens, he said, but they constitute 12 percent of the state's fatalities.

The committee did not take any action.

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