Legislation that would lower the age for drivers in Kentucky to get their instruction permit from 16 to 15 unanimously passed the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday.
House Bill 15, sponsored by House Majority Leader Steve Rudy, R-Paducah, would still require the permit holder to hold it for at least 180 days and be at least 16 years of age before they could take the test for an intermediate driver’s license. The intermediate license would also have to be held for a minimum of 180 days and the driver must complete a driver training course before applying for a regular operator’s license.
“We are definitely on an island,” Rudy testified before the panel. “We are the only state in the South that does not allow 15-year-olds to get their permits. There is one exception if we pass this law, which is Arkansas, where they allow 14-year-olds to get their permits, but we’re not trying to be Arkansas. We gave them a basketball coach, and that’s all we agree with.”
Brooks Young, a 14-year-old high school student from Frankfort, also appeared with Rudy. He told the committee, “At age 15, many teenagers are already balancing schoolwork, part-time jobs, sports and other activities, demonstrating their ability to manage their time. Allowing them to begin driving under controlled, safe and structured conditions, offers an opportunity to further develop these crucial life skills.”
One of the committee members, Sen. Mike Wilson, R- Bowling Green, said, “When I was a young man growing up, when I got to be 14 in Tennessee, we could get a five-brake horsepower motorcycle license. I had a paper route and began to utilize that quite well. We could get our permits at 15.”
The bill passed the committee on an 11-0 vote and now heads to the Senate floor, where if given approval, would then head to the governor’s desk.
(Photo courtesy of prnewswire.com)
By Tom Latek, Kentucky Today
