The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) has commended Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for signing into law two bills designed to improve highway safety.
The bills are AB 1325, which addresses motor vehicle speed contests, and AB 1474, which amends the state’s provisional licensing program. Both measures become effective Jan. 1. 2006.
“Gov. Schwarzenegger has taken an important step in improving laws that affect highway safety, especially among young drivers,” said ACIC President Sam Sorich. “ACIC supported both these bills while under consideration in the Legislature and had urged the governor to sign them into law.
AB 1325 by Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, increases the minimum imprisonment penalty for illegal street racing from one to 30 days. It also increases the maximum imprisonment penalty from 90 days to six months.
“Drivers who engage in this activity are focused on the thrill of high-speed driving, not the potentially disastrous consequences when the activity goes astray. As a clearly warranted first step in stemming the increasing number of occurrences of this dangerous activity, penalties should be increased as provided in AB 1325,” Sorich said.
AB 1474 by Assemblyman Bill Maze, R-Visalia, makes two important changes in California’s graduated, or provisional drivers license program–which places restrictions on licenses of beginning teen drivers.
The legislation extends from six months to one year the period when graduated drivers licensees are prohibited from transporting individuals under the age of 20. In addition, AB 1474 expands the restriction on driving between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“California’s existing graduated drivers license program has been successful in reducing crashes, injuries and deaths. A recent study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found vehicle deaths involving 16-year-old drivers decreased nearly 30 percent between 1993 and 2003, a period during which 46 states, including California, instituted graduated licensing programs,” said Sorich.
The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) is an affiliate of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) and represents more than 300 property/casualty insurance companies doing business in California.
Topics California
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