AUGUSTA — In a whirlwind meeting Tuesday, the Legislature’s Transportation Committee heard testimony on, debated and passed a bill to deter irresponsible driving among teens.

The bill, L.D. 1912, would extend the period of restrictions on intermediate driver licenses and adds fines and suspensions for drivers who violate those restrictions.

It also increases the minimum fine for texting while driving for all drivers, from $100 to $250.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, and has the backing of Secretary of State Charlie Summers, who said in testimony that the increased penalties are meant as deterrence.

He said that parents and grandparents at public forums across the state requested stiffer penalties for irresponsible driving.

“They all felt like most of these fines were, in today’s world, pretty much just a slap on the wrist, and we needed to send a message to people that there were ramifications for their actions,” Summers said.

Summers said L.D. 1912 is modeled after an even tougher Massachusetts law. In the three years after the law went into effect in 2007, the number of fatal crashes involving drivers younger than 18 dropped by 75 percent in Massachusetts.

Summers said that since Christmas, Maine has had 18 traffic fatalities involving drivers ages 18-24. It was not clear whether that figure included 19-year-old Timothy J. Dodge of Rockland, who died in a single-vehicle crash in Old Town early Tuesday morning.

Transportation Committee members learned of Dodge’s death at the end of the public hearing Tuesday afternoon.

They also heard testimony in favor of the bill from parents whose teen children died in car crashes.

Jerrold Mason’s daughter Becca, 16, was one of two teens killed in a Jan. 7 crash in West Paris. Mason noted that the car’s driver, Kristina Lowe, had two previous crashes on her record.

State Police say Lowe, 18, had been drinking and was texting when she lost control of the car in the fatal crash.

Mason said L.D. 1912 would put teeth in Maine’s laws for young drivers and the prohibition against texting while driving.

“I believe that this law, these laws that are about to be looked at by you folks, would definitely give somebody, maybe like my daughter, a chance,” Mason said.

Under Maine law, drivers younger than 18 who recieve their first license may not have anyone other than immediate family in the car while they’re driving, many not drive between midnight and 5 a.m. or use a cel phone while driving, for the first 180 days after the license is issued. Any violation adds 180 days to the period of restriction.

The law would increase the period of restriction to 270 days and add 270 days to that period for any violations.

For violations of the intermediate license restrictions, the bill institutes a fine of $250-$500, a suspension of the license and a reinstatement fee of $50.

The suspension starts at 60 days for a first offense and increases to one year for a third or any subsequent offense.

L.D. 1912 also increases suspensions for moving violations for juvenile provisional licenses, which is what drivers younger than 21 receive.

The first-offense suspension would increase from 30 days to 60 days, and the third-offense suspension would increase from 90 days to one year.

For major offenses — such as operating a vehicle under the influence or driving under suspension — juvenile provisional license holders would be subject to a new reinstatement fee of $350.

The Transportation Committee reported the bill with an “ought to pass” recommendation approved by all 11 legislators present at the time of the vote.

Sen. Doug Thomas, R-Ripley, had to leave because of other business, but he said he opposed the bill because it would impose a hardship on young families in which the breadwinners may be younger than 21 and would not be able to reach jobs in rural Maine without being able to drive.

Thomas also said there are problems of equity in levying different fines against drivers of different ages.

Other legislators who ultimately voted in favor of the bill also raised concerns.

Rep. George Hogan, D-Old Orchard Beach, said that in eight years in the Legislature, he has never worked on such a significant bill that came up for a public hearing and a vote in one afternoon.

Rep. Alex Willettee, R-Mapleton, objected to raising the fine for texting while driving. He said other activities that distract drivers — such as eating or reading a book — are not outlawed and the texting ban is too new to gauge its effectiveness.

“If it’s truly about awareness and not raising revenue, then we need to let the law run its course,” Willette said. “It’s not even a year old now.”

The committee stripped out a provision of the bill that would have required people over 18 to take drivers education before obtaining a license for the first time.

Summers said many teens wait until they are 18 to seek a license in order to circumvent drivers education. AAA spokesman Pat Moody said the lack of education for adult drivers also causes problems with immigrants.

Several committee members said they like the idea, and they discussed limiting the requirement to ages 18-24, but they ultimately voted unanimously to remove the langauge from the bill.

Committee Chairman Rep. Rich Cebra, R-Naples, said it’s difficult to impose a requirement like that on adults.

“I know my caucus and their head’s going to explode,” Cebra said. “I don’t want to sink the bill because of this section.”

Susan McMillan — 621-5645

smcmillan@mainetoday.com