New Jersey
Deaths in Crashes Involving Teen Drivers in New Jersey
In 2010, 73 people were killed in crashes involving teen drivers in New Jersey. Over the past five years, New Jersey crashes involving teen drivers claimed 498 lives. Nationally, since 2000, more than 85,000 people have been killed in crashes involving teen drivers.
Graduated Driver Licensing Laws in New Jersey
The current GDL law in New Jersey includes the following components:
- A three-stage licensing system beginning at age 16 for learner’s permit, age 17 for the intermediate stage, and age 18 for full licensure
- A mandatory 6 month holding period for the learner’s permit stage
- A prohibition on unsupervised nighttime driving between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. during the intermediate stage
- A passenger restriction prohibiting more than one passenger (other than dependents of the driver)
- A prohibition on non-emergency use of hand-held and hands-free cell phones during the learner’s permit and intermediate stages
- A prohibition on texting while driving for all drivers
These changes are needed to improve New Jersey’s GDL law and meet the requirements of the STANDUP Act
- New Jersey has all the requirements included in the STANDUP Act. However, we would recommend that they add a requirement for at least 30 hours of supervised driving during the learner’s permit stage.
For more information and to contact your state representative, please visit: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/.
