New Jersey
Deaths in Crashes Involving Teen Drivers in New Jersey
In 2008, 109 people were killed in crashes involving teen drivers in New Jersey. Over the past five years, New Jersey crashes involving teen drivers claimed 569 lives. Nationally, since 1999, more than 84,400 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 midnight and 5 a.m. during the intermediate stage (as of 5/1/10, the restricted hours will be 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.)
- A passenger restriction prohibiting more than one non-familial passenger (as of 5/1/10, the only permitted passengers will be dependents of the driver)
- A prohibition on non-emergency use of 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.
