At the start of next year, teenagers will have to be 16 before they can have a driver license. Under existing law, 15 and three months is old enough to qualify for a license. Officials hope that raising the minimum
At the start of next year, teenagers will have to be 16 before they can have a
driver license.
Under existing law, 15 and three months is old enough to
qualify for a license. Officials hope that raising the minimum age will bring
down the accident rate among the youngest drivers.
Changes in the age at
which teens can acquire instruction permits and driver licenses will be
accompanied by another law requiring new motorists to complete certified driver
education courses and get on-the-road experience accompanied by adult licensed
drivers.
Currently, drivers 15 and older can get permits, and at three
months past their 15th birthday can qualify for licenses. Effective at the
beginning of 2001, the permit age moves up to 15 and a half, and the license
age moves up to 16.
Drivers who are 15 and 16 have the highest incidence of
traffic accidents in the state, with many of those being fatal, the Legislature
learned. That was a major reason why the age limits are being raised, and why
driver education and on-the-road experience are being made mandatory, officials
said.
Also starting next year, you can scratch Hawai’i from the short list
of states which use Social Security numbers as driver license
numbers.
Actually, Hawai’i is the only state that does so, along with the
District of Columbia.
The state Department of Transportation last week
reminded motorists that anyone who receives or renews a Hawai’i driver license
or instruction permit after Jan. 1, 2001, will be assigned a new license
number. The new ones will include an “H” before eight numbers selected at
random.
The change is a result of a 1999 state law that takes effect at the
beginning of next year. It’s intended to fight identity theft, where criminals
use other people’s personal information to create false identification or
attempt to raid bank accounts.
A bill in this year’s Legislature, which
would have given free licenses to those people whose licenses expire after Jan.
1, 2002, expired in the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs
Committee.
Drivers whose licenses expire later must wait until they renew
their licenses to get the new numbers.
Proof of name, age and Social
Security number are still needed to get a license.
Staff writer Paul
C. Curtis can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) and pcurtis@pulitzer.net
