“My husband and I told (Eden) that if we caught her doing it, we’d take her license away. “We know some kids are still driving with friends when they are not supposed to,” said Monsen, an art teacher at Brunswick High School. McHugh said she doesn’t think it’s practical for eight friends who are going to the same place to have to take eight vehicles.Įden Monsen’s mother, Heather, said she thinks the probationary period is a good idea, but she’s not sure that increasing it to nine months is necessary. “If you bump it up, more people will break the rules.” “Kids don’t follow the rules now,” Larochelle said while shopping in the Old Port on Wednesday. Both said nine months is too long for intermediate licenses. Michaela Weeks, 16, and Delaney Nolin, 17, both from Cumberland, agreed that some restrictions are appropriate, but they called the lengthened probationary period “really annoying.”Ĭlaire McHugh and Lillian Larochelle, 15-year-olds from South Portland, have their learner’s permits but won’t be able to get their licenses until next year. They want to be with their friends, including in the car. They agreed that making roads safer is important, but complained that younger drivers are being singled out.įor teenagers, the most onerous restriction appears to be the one that forbids new drivers from having passengers who aren’t family members unless a licensed driver who’s at least 20 is in the car. Drivers age 16 to 24, who make up a little more than 10 percent of all licensed drivers in Maine, are involved in nearly 30 percent of the state’s fatal motor vehicle crashes.Īsked this week about the new restrictions on young drivers, teenagers had mixed reactions. Secretary of State Charlie Summers drafted the changes in response to a rash of fatal accidents last fall and winter that involved teenage drivers. That change applies to all drivers, but it’s meant mostly to deter teenagers, many of whom use text messaging as their primary form of communication. The minimum fine for texting while driving is now $250, up from $100. Drivers who got intermediate licenses before Thursday will still have six months of restrictions.Ĭertain penalties for driving violations also are going up. That means no passengers who aren’t family members or at least 20 years old, no driving after midnight and no cellphone calls.Īny violation of those restrictions makes the clock on the intermediate license start over. Maine lawmakers approved legislation this year that requires any new license holder who’s younger than 18 to drive on an intermediate license for nine months. “I think two or three months is probably long enough,” said Richardson, 17. Told that those restrictions for new drivers would be extended from six months to nine months beginning Thursday, all three said they were glad they already have licenses. “It was definitely a hassle,” Kane, 18, said Wednesday in the parking lot at the Maine Mall, where the three friends were doing some back-to-school shopping. His passenger, Chris Tomascak, 17, says “if it’s saving people from doing stupid things, I guess it’s good.” Tomascak goes for his driver’s license next month. Portland High senior Bobby Parent, 18, right, says there’s a lot of peer pressure for friends to all ride together in the same car.
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