Governor signs bill on teen driving
Measure among 35 new state laws
Governor Mitt Romney signed a flurry of bills yesterday, including measures that stiffen the training requirements and penalties for teenage drivers and require defibrillators in the state's health clubs.
But he refused to sign, and effectively killed, a bill that would have boosted the salaries of the Boston Licensing Board by 42 percent, to more than $85,000.
Romney, who leaves office at noon today, signed into law 35 bills, including one making the garter snake the state's official reptile and another preserving jobs at the state's four racetracks by extending licenses on simulcast races.
Romney let another 44 measures die without action, many of them local bills that pertained to individual cities and towns. Because the two-year legislative session ended at midnight Tuesday, the governor's inaction results in a pocket veto, which the Legislature has no opportunity to override. The new Legislature sworn into office yesterday could choose to file the bills again this session.
One of the most sweeping measures signed into law was a teenage driving bill that stiffens training requirements and increases penalties for errant teenage drivers, the product of a long and contentious legislative process punctuated by a series of headline-making road tragedies. The new penalties take effect March 31, and the new training requirements begin on Sept. 1.
Some lawmakers had initially sought to raise the driving age to 17 1/2, but abandoned the proposal this summer after opposition from some teenage drivers and their parents. Last week, the bill's supporters dropped two more provisions that had caused friction: a ban on drivers under 18 using cellphones and a proposal to crack down on illegal immigration by requiring presentation of a valid drivers license when registering a car.
The law's major training provision will require a driver with a learner's permit to spend at least 40 hours driving under the supervision of a parent or other adult, up from the current 12 hours, in order to get a junior operator's license. That requirement would drop to 30 hours if a teenager takes an advanced driving education course that teaches defensive driving techniques. A parent or adult would have to sign a form certifying that the requirement was met. The law also mandates that teenagers spend 12 hours behind the wheel in driver education courses, double the current requirement.
In addition to training, the law focuses on punishments for teenage drivers who break the law. Drivers with learner's permits who are caught speeding would face a 90-day permit suspension and a $50 fine, plus $10 for each mile per hour over the speed limit. Currently, the penalty is $50. A second offense would prompt a one-year suspension plus the same fine.
"I think it's good news for parents who will see their teens getting a much better education through the driver's ed process," said state Senator Steven A. Baddour, a Metheun Democrat. "Once one teen at one high school gets hit with the penalties under that bill, every teen will know the penalties of this law."
The Romney administration angered bicycle safety activists, though, by vetoing another bill. Designed to protect bicyclists, it called for training police to uniformly enforce laws covering both bicyclists and motorists. Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey vetoed that bill in Romney's absence.
The bill's supporters said Healey's brief veto message suggested that she misunderstood the measure's intent. "We are profoundly disappointed that the outgoing administration did not value the safety of Massachusetts bicyclists enough to take the time to understand the bill before vetoing it at the eleventh hour," said a statement issued by David Watson, executive director of MassBike. "This is another example of an administration that was badly out of touch with transportation and safety issues that affect Massachusetts citizens every day."
Romney did sign another safety-oriented measure, requiring each Massachusetts health club to buy an automated external defibrillator, which can cost over $1,000, and to train staff to use it for someone suffering cardiac arrest. Larger clubs will have a year to comply, but ones with five or fewer employees will have two years.
"A lot of people we discussed it with were shocked that defibrillators weren't required," said Carolyn Fahey, an operating room nurse at Jordan Hospital.
Stephanie Ebbert can be reached at ebbert@globe.com; Raja Mishra, at rmishra@globe.com. 