Crackdown pushed on teen drivers
Rell wants to get tough on those who drink, drive
Rell wants to get tough on those who drink, drive
BY CHRIS PARKER
Gov. M. Jodi Rell is calling for a crackdown on underage drinking and driving, including tougher penalties for teenagers charged with driving under the influence.
Friday, the governor’s Task Force on Teen Driving recommended several options for tougher teen driving laws, all of which Rell said she would add to her proposal for stricter standards. Rell already had called for increasing to a year or more the license suspension period for 16- and 17-year-olds charged with drunken driving, and to require that they take a substance abuse training program.
The suspension period for first-time offenders is currently two months to one year, depending on the circumstances of the arrest. There is no requirement for teenagers to take substance abuse training classes.
The task force’s recommendations on Friday included earlier curfews for teen drivers and a longer period when a parent or guardian would be required to be in a car with a teenager driving. Rell said she would include the proposed changes in the 2008 legislative package she will present to the legislature next month.
Drivers asked about the changes said the governor’s proposal could be even tougher. “There should be more consequences,” said 18-year-old Chantale Blizzard of Waterbury. “What happens when the year is up? Will they (teenagers) be right back doing that?”
A recent tragedy illustrates that concern. Last March, 17year-old Anthony Apruzzese of Wolcott was charged with drunken driving after he crashed his car into a tree. His license was suspended after that accident, but was reinstated in July.
On Oct. 4, he crashed his car in the town, killing himself, his 15-year-old sister, Jessica, and his sister’s friend, Thamara Correa, 14.
Under Rell’s proposal, Anthony Apruzzese would still have had his license suspended the day of the crash.
Rell’s proposed changes and the task force’s recommendations concerning punishments for offenders come two months after she created the group to examine laws related to teen driving following the recent accident- related deaths of several Connecticut teens.
There were about 34,025 licensed 16- and 17-year-old motorists in 2006, the latest year for which data was available.
Andrew Roberts, executive director of the Greater Waterbury YMCA, said he thinks lengthening the suspension period to more than a year might be a good approach. He said teenagers believe they are invincible.
That was a sentiment shared by Waterbury resident Sean Moriarty, 25, who said teenagers shouldn’t be drinking in the first place given the minimum legal drinking age in Connecticut is 21.
Not everyone agrees.
Yanira Maldonado, 16, of Waterbury, hopes to get her license soon. She said she feels a year of suspension is too extreme. She thinks four months would be enough.
Eighteen-year-old Natasha Germain, who said she knows someone injured in New Jersey because of a drunk driver, offered a more direct approach.
“If they drink and drive, they don’t need their license,” she said, adding that Rell’s proposals were “excellent.”
Gov. M. Jodi Rell is calling for a crackdown on underage drinking and driving, including tougher penalties for teenagers charged with driving under the influence.
Friday, the governor’s Task Force on Teen Driving recommended several options for tougher teen driving laws, all of which Rell said she would add to her proposal for stricter standards. Rell already had called for increasing to a year or more the license suspension period for 16- and 17-year-olds charged with drunken driving, and to require that they take a substance abuse training program.
The suspension period for first-time offenders is currently two months to one year, depending on the circumstances of the arrest. There is no requirement for teenagers to take substance abuse training classes.
The task force’s recommendations on Friday included earlier curfews for teen drivers and a longer period when a parent or guardian would be required to be in a car with a teenager driving. Rell said she would include the proposed changes in the 2008 legislative package she will present to the legislature next month.
Drivers asked about the changes said the governor’s proposal could be even tougher. “There should be more consequences,” said 18-year-old Chantale Blizzard of Waterbury. “What happens when the year is up? Will they (teenagers) be right back doing that?”
A recent tragedy illustrates that concern. Last March, 17year-old Anthony Apruzzese of Wolcott was charged with drunken driving after he crashed his car into a tree. His license was suspended after that accident, but was reinstated in July.
On Oct. 4, he crashed his car in the town, killing himself, his 15-year-old sister, Jessica, and his sister’s friend, Thamara Correa, 14.
Under Rell’s proposal, Anthony Apruzzese would still have had his license suspended the day of the crash.
Rell’s proposed changes and the task force’s recommendations concerning punishments for offenders come two months after she created the group to examine laws related to teen driving following the recent accident- related deaths of several Connecticut teens.
There were about 34,025 licensed 16- and 17-year-old motorists in 2006, the latest year for which data was available.
Andrew Roberts, executive director of the Greater Waterbury YMCA, said he thinks lengthening the suspension period to more than a year might be a good approach. He said teenagers believe they are invincible.
That was a sentiment shared by Waterbury resident Sean Moriarty, 25, who said teenagers shouldn’t be drinking in the first place given the minimum legal drinking age in Connecticut is 21.
Not everyone agrees.
Yanira Maldonado, 16, of Waterbury, hopes to get her license soon. She said she feels a year of suspension is too extreme. She thinks four months would be enough.
Eighteen-year-old Natasha Germain, who said she knows someone injured in New Jersey because of a drunk driver, offered a more direct approach.
“If they drink and drive, they don’t need their license,” she said, adding that Rell’s proposals were “excellent.”