The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration opposes a General Assembly bill that would require teenagers applying for driver?s licenses to be tested for drug and alcohol use.
The agency would have to perform the tests at branch offices that are not structured or equipped to handle the testing proposed in Del. Marvin Holmes? House Bill 0191, according to MVA spokesman Buel Young.
“We oppose the bill, as it would have a severe and negative operational and fiscal impact,” Young said. “MVA is not equipped to administer drug and alcohol tests at branch facilities, as each branch would be required to have at least one blood-alcohol concentration machine to test for the presence of alcohol. They would also have to have at least one staff member properly trained and certified to administer tests and analyze the results.”
Young said that in addition, the branches would need space to have blood drawn and for proper disposal of controlled and dangerous substances.
Holmes could not be reached for comment.
Motor vehicle crashes involving teen drivershave been on the rise in Maryland since 1996, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Research also shows that nationally, almost two-thirds of all fatal night-time crashes involving 16-year-old drivers occur before midnight.
The MVA favors House Bill 1426, which seeks to reduce by two hours the time drivers younger than 17 may drive without supervision.
“We support this bill because we are consistently striving to find new and efficient methods to improve driver safety and increase customer service,” Young said. Teens are currently prohibited from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. Under the new legislation, the curfew would begin at 10 p.m. and end at 5 a.m.
Young said that in Maryland over the past two years, more drivers ages 16 and 17 died between 10 p.m. and midnight than from midnight to 5 a.m.
Shanelle Nicholson, 29, a nursing assistant from Essex, said she favored both the tests and extended curfew.
“I?m all for the tests because there?s a lot of young people who are into alcohol,” Nicholson said. “So just imagine them behind the wheel. It?s going to cause more accidents.”
She said, however, that she would like the curfew to begin at 11 p.m.
“You have to consider that on weekends,teenage drivers want to be out with their friends, and being on the roads among drivers, they?ll need time to get home safely,” she said. “But anything later than that, you need to question what they could be doing out so late.”
