BILL NUMBER: S5945

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to restricting
participation in the pre-licensing course internet pilot program

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To mandate that applicants seeking a drivers license who are 25 years or
younger take the five hour pre-licensing course in person with a live
instructor.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Section 399-S of the Vehicle and Traffic Law to provide
that applicants twenty-five years of age or younger will have to take
the five hour pre-licensing course in person with a live instructor.

Section 2 sets the effective date.

              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Highway deaths due to automobile collisions are on the rise in New York
State and across the country. A recent New York State Comptroller report
showed that since 2019 the growth in New York's traffic fatalities has
risen even as the number of licensed drivers and vehicle miles traveled
(VMT) declined by one percent and seven percent, respectively. Pedestri-
an deaths due to reckless and careless driving are also on the rise.
While there are many factors that could reasonably be linked to this
rise in fatalities, this disturbing trend coincides with the state
adopting a policy, which started in 2020, to allow all drivers to take
the mandatory five hour pre-licensing course online instead of in person
with a live instructor. This has resulted in a majority of drivers
clicking their way through the class with no interactive instruction.

Class DJ and MJ applicants, who are 16 and 17 years old, are already
required to take the five hour course in person due to the state's
determination that this inexperienced, high-risk category of drivers
would benefit from interactive instruction. This legislation would
extend this same requirement to drivers aged 25 and below, which the
data shows also have high crash rates relative to other drivers.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate