PRINTER'S NO. 583
No. 410 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY CORMAN, MADIGAN, STOUT, PICCOLA, MELLOW, GERLACH,
CONTI, DENT, HELFRICK, MOWERY, THOMPSON, WAGNER AND WHITE,
MARCH 10, 1999
REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION, MARCH 10, 1999
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, further providing for persons eligible for
3 licensing, for learner's permits and for school, examination
4 or hearing on accumulation of points or excessive speeding.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Section 1503(b) and (c) of Title 75 of the
8 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
9 § 1503. Persons ineligible for licensing.
10 * * *
11 (b) Minors completing training course.--The department shall
12 issue a driver's license to a person 17 years of age who:
13 (1) has successfully completed a driver's training
14 course approved by the department; and
15 (2) for a period of 12 months after passing the
16 examination under section 1505(e) (relating to learners'
17 permits) and receiving a junior driver's license:
18 (i) has not been involved in an accident for which
1 they are partially or fully responsible in the opinion of
2 the department [or is]; or
3 (ii) has not been convicted of any violation of this
4 title.
5 (c) Junior driver's license.--The department may issue a
6 junior driver's license to a person 16 or 17 years of age under
7 rules and regulations adopted by the department and subject to
8 the provisions of this section. A junior driver's license shall
9 automatically become a regular driver's license when the
10 licensee attains 18 years of age.
11 (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no licensed
12 junior driver shall drive a vehicle upon a public highway
13 between [12 midnight] 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless accompanied
14 by a spouse 18 years of age or older, a parent or a person in
15 loco parentis.
16 (2) A licensed junior driver conforming to the
17 requirements of section 1507 (relating to application for
18 driver's license or learner's permit by minor) may drive a
19 vehicle upon a public highway between 12 midnight and 5 a.m.
20 between their home and their activity or employment or in the
21 course of their activity or employment if they are a member
22 of a volunteer fire company authorized by the fire chief to
23 engage in fighting fires, engaged in public or charitable
24 service or employed and they are carrying an affidavit signed
25 by their fire chief, supervisor or employer indicating the
26 probable schedule of their activities. Upon termination of
27 the junior driver's activity or employment, the junior
28 licensee shall surrender the affidavit to the fire chief,
29 supervisor or employer. If the junior licensee shall fail to
30 surrender the affidavit, the employer, fire chief or
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1 supervisor shall immediately notify the Pennsylvania State
2 Police.
3 (3) In addition to the other provisions of this title
4 relating to the suspension or revocation of operating
5 privileges, in the event that a licensed junior driver is
6 involved in an accident for which they are partially or fully
7 responsible in the opinion of the department or is convicted
8 of any violation of this title, the department may suspend
9 the operating privileges of such person until the person
10 attains 18 years of age or for a period of time not exceeding
11 90 days.
12 (4) Any junior licensee or other person violating any
13 provision of this subsection is guilty of a summary offense.
14 Section 2. Section 1505(b) and (d) of Title 75 are amended
15 and the section is amended by adding a subsection to read:
16 § 1505. Learners' permits.
17 * * *
18 (b) Learner must be accompanied.--A learner's permit
19 entitles the person to whom it was issued to drive vehicles and
20 combinations of vehicles of the class or classes specified, but
21 only while the holder of the learner's permit is accompanied by
22 and under the immediate supervision of a person who is at least
23 [18] 21 years of age and who:
24 (1) is licensed in this Commonwealth to drive vehicles
25 of the class then being driven by the holder of the learner's
26 permit; and
27 (2) is actually occupying a seat beside the holder of
28 the learner's permit unless the vehicle is a motorcycle.
29 * * *
30 (d) Duration of permit.--A learner's permit shall be valid
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1 for a period of [120 days] one year after date of issue, or
2 until the holder of the permit has failed the examination as
3 authorized in section 1508 (relating to examination of applicant
4 for driver's license) three times within the [120-day] one-year
5 period.
6 (e) Authorization to test for driver's license and junior
7 driver's license.--A person with a learner's permit is
8 authorized to take the examination for a regular or junior
9 driver's license for the class of vehicle for which a permit is
10 held. Before a person under the age of 18 years may take the
11 examination for a junior driver's license the minor must:
12 (1) have held a learner's permit for that class of
13 vehicle for a period of six months; and
14 (2) present to the department a certification signed by
15 the same individual who signed the minor's application for a
16 learner's permit under section 1507 (relating to application
17 for driver's license or learner's permit by minor) stating
18 that the minor applicant has completed 50 hours of behind-
19 the-wheel training under the supervision of a person at least
20 21 years of age.
21 Section 3. Section 1538 of Title 75 is amended by adding a
22 subsection to read:
23 § 1538. School, examination or hearing on accumulation of
24 points or excessive speeding.
25 * * *
26 (e) Additional suspension of operating privilege.--In
27 addition to any other provisions of law relating to the
28 suspension or revocation of operating privileges, if before
29 attaining 18 years of age a person either violates section 3362
30 (relating to maximum speed limits) by traveling 31 miles per
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1 hour or greater over the posted speed limit, or accumulates six
2 or more points under the provisions of section 1535 (relating to
3 schedule of convictions and points) and, in either event, is
4 subsequently convicted, the person's operating privileges shall
5 be suspended. The first suspension under this section shall be
6 for a period of 90 days with every subsequent suspension under
7 this section to be for a period of 120 days. Suspensions under
8 this section shall be imposed consecutively to each other and to
9 any other suspension. A suspension shall be considered a
10 subsequent suspension even if it is imposed contemporaneously
11 with a first suspension imposed under this section.
12 Section 4. The amendment or addition of 75 Pa.C.S. § 1505(d)
13 and (e) shall apply only to persons who receive permits issued
14 on or after the effective date of this act.
15 Section 5. This act shall take effect in 180 days.
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