During the second of the three levels, the driver:
"Must not have more than one passenger in the vehicle other than parents, legal guardians or family members."It's the state's attempt to reduce distracted driving as much as possible.The use of electronic devices is also banned.
Now a study has confirmed that keeping friends out of the car is a good idea, but it should keep ALL fellow teen passengers out. The teen brain is apparently wired to show-off for friends...especially boys and especially for other male teen friends.
Alabama is one of five Southern States identified as especially dangerous for teen drivers in a 2008 Allstate study...and the Birmingham-Hoover area was further selected as a national hotspot for teen deaths.
Only parents, legal guardians or family members?
ReplyDeleteWhat about a driver ed teacher, police officer observing behavior, or other adults who might have a legitimate reason to be in the vehicle?
There are three stages to the system...you can read the details here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dps.state.al.us/DriverLicense/pdf/SynopsisofGDL.pdf
The limit on friends in the car is in the second stage. The first stage is more limited, with only certain adults like drivers' ed instructors etc in the car. I guess they presume you will be a somewhat better driver by stage 2?
One would hope so!
ReplyDeleteOn returning to the US from my first trip to England (1992), I found out that my 18 year old daughter had not yet learned to drive; my wife had promised to teach her.
So, with me suffering from jet lag, we went around the area practicing driving skills. She wanted to practice backing up only in double-width driveways; she complained that it was too hot or too cold; it was raining; anything to avoid practice.
(She had a documented learning disability, so learning anything new was hard for her. Now she is an elementary school teacher.)
I would joke that she was the only teenager in the US who didn't want to learn to drive.
Now, of course, she's a fine driver.