ATLANTA (AP) -- More schools would get driver’s education programs and teens would be required to take the class or wait until they are 17 to get a driver’s license under a bill passed by the Senate on Thursday.The plan would add a 5 percent surcharge to traffic fines. That money would be used to help pay for driving simulators in public schools.The measure also requires teens to take one of the driver’s education courses to become eligible for a license at age 16 -- as they can currently.Otherwise, they wouldn’t be eligible until 17.Sen. Preston Smith, R-Rome, the plan’s sponsor, dubbed the bill “Joshua’s Law,” after Joshua Brown, of Cartersville, one of 123 Georgia teens who died in car crashes in 2003.“Virtually every single week, there are young people in Georgia who die on our roads,” Smith said. “Driver’s education is so important, because it teaches experience.”Public schools would not be required to offer driver’s ed under the bill. Students who could not take the course at their school would be required to pay for a course at a private driving school.If approved, the law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2007. The bill passed the Senate 50-3 and now goes to the House for consideration.
State Senate Passes 'Joshua's Law'
More schools would get driver’s education programs and teens would be required to take the class or wait until they are 17 to get a driver’s license under a bill passed by the Senate on Thursday.
