The Pennsylvania legislature enacted a teenage curfew law that became effective on August 1, 1999. Under this law, Pennsylvania drivers aged 16 and 17 have an 11 p.m. curfew. The law also requires a six-month learner’s permit and a requisite 50 hours of road supervision by an adult.
The law was enacted in order to reduce auto-related deaths involving teenagers-Pensylvania’s number one killer. The first statistics available since the law was put in force, were promising. Accidents involving 16 and 17 year olds declined by 43 percent. Injuries to those children dropped by 50 percent.
Although it is certainly too early to predict total success, the released statistics are a positive revelation. When Pennsylvania Governor Ridge signed the law, the goal was to reduce these accidents by 4,000 or 25 percent
Another significant aspect of the new legislation provides that parents are now notified directly of any violation committed by their teen-ager, and PennDOT has the power to automatically take away a license if a teen-ager is caught going at least 26 mph over the speed limit.
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