Illinois House Approves Teen Driving Bill

Chicago Tribue:

Without a single dissenting vote, the Illinois House on Wednesday sent to the governor one of the nation's toughest sets of teen driving restrictions -- including a tripling of the duration of the learner's permit phase -- in a package experts say should reduce the heartbreaking No. 1 killer of teens.

"This bill is about the safety of 16-year-old drivers everywhere in the state of Illinois," said Rep. John D'Amico (D-Chicago), the House sponsor. He added that the bill "has been long overdue. I think ... we're going to see a lot of states throughout our country duplicate what we've done." [..]

It also would double the length of time for passenger limits on 16- and 17-year-old drivers and extend night driving restrictions on them. Parents would be required to attend certain traffic court hearings with their teen driver. Currently, there are about 300,000 Illinois teens whom the law could affect.

What do you think is this legislation to relax, strict or not needed?