Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy proposed a piece of legislation to the House, which he is sponsoring, called House Bill 15. This bill would lower the driver’s permit age from 16 to 15 in Kentucky. It would also lower the minimum age to get a full license from 17 to 16-and-a-half.
Representative Rudy said that he is pushing for the bill to be more like the other southern states. Every state to the South of Kentucky allows citizens to get an instructional permit at 15.
Rudy also said he was pushing for the bill for the workforce element. “As we continue to look at workforce participation, kids can’t get jobs now because they don’t have a driver’s license. Mom and dad both work and sometimes they can’t drive,” Rudy said, according to the Herald Leader.
The idea is that with more people driving, more teenagers would be able to hold jobs.
Representative Rudy is not the only person working towards this bill becoming a law. 19 other Republicans signed on as co sponsor. Frankfort’s Erika Hancock also signed as the only Democrat co-sponsor.
Many other things would still stay the same. Permit holders would still be required to be accompanied by a licensed driver 21 years or older in the passenger’s seat. Nothing would change about the written and vision tests drivers need to take to get their instructional permits.
While the bill hasn’t been passed in either the House or the Senate, Rudy thinks it will go well. “I think the House, we’re on board,” Rudy said, according to the Courier Journal.
Those who are against the bill are concerned about there being an increased amount of accidents on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that car crashes were the leading cause of death among teens ages 15 to 18 in the U.S. in 2022.
“I understand more kids on the road are scary for some people, but I would like to point out that there’s no statistical evidence that there are higher percentages of out-of-accidents with our youth,” said Representative Rudy, according to the Courier Journal.
Rudy also stated that in other nearby states, which have the age set at 15, the car crash rates are similar to Kentucky’s.
