Bill alters when non-family members can accompany new teen drivers
Jan 29, 2025, 5:00 PM | Updated: 5:01 pm
FILE – Cars drive along a Utah highway, pictured 2015. (Stuart Johnson, Deseret News)
(Stuart Johnson, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — In a matter of months, your newly licensed teenage driver might not have to wait six months to drive alone with a friend in the car.
Rep. Jill Koford, R-Ogden, is sponsoring HB308, which, if passed, would allow 16 and 17-year-old drivers to drive alone with one non-family member in the car as soon as they get their driver’s license.
Under current Utah law, newly licensed drivers under 18 must be accompanied by a licensed adult sitting next to them in the car to drive non-family members. Under current law, teen drivers must drive this way until they’ve had their license for at least six months.
Current law “difficult” to enforce, says sponsor
Koford told KSL NewsRadio she believes this is a difficult law to enforce for various reasons. She said that removing it would simplify the rules.
“This is a law that a lot of kids are ignoring, and I don’t like that,” Koford said. “I would rather set them up for success than to teach them to try to cheat the system those first six months.”
Koford also said doing this allows parents to further teach their kids the importance of safe driving since there would be another life in their hands.
“Removing this restriction gives us an opportunity to teach our kids and say, ‘look, driving is a big responsibility … and it’s up to you to take care of the passenger in your car,'” Koford said.
Restrictive law “hard on kids in rural Utah”
Koford also noted this restriction can be hard on kids in rural Utah. She said some kids in the Beehive State have to drive an hour to get to school. Having the ability to carpool or have a helper in the car can be a good resource for teens, she said.
She also said if something goes wrong on the road, having a friend there to help can make a difference.
The bill awaits its first committee hearing on Utah’s Capitol Hill. It needs to pass a House committee, the full House, a Senate committee, the full Senate and be signed into law by the governor to take effect.
If that happens, as it’s currently written, the law would take effect on May 7.
