Plastic+Driver's+Learning+Permits

Democracy and Active Citizenship Project
 * What should be prepared for the Dialogues in Democracy Night? Click the link below to find out: **

__Problem Statement:__
(Vision) Driver’s permits should be durable and capable of surviving the activities of an active teen lifestyle.

(Issue) Permit papers issued by the state are insecure, easily damaged and expensive to legally replace. The state system for learning to drive works, but many places open for improvement are available; correcting the faults in this area of the system would decrease the stress of busy high school years.

(Method) We will contact the DMV and present the options and incentives for a more user-friendly system. Popular pressure by way of petitions and citizen lobbying would also assist in the new law change.

__Bill or Policy:__
 **2011 -- H BILL # ** ======= LC01752 ß  ignore this because it will be taken care of by the House Clerk =======

 **S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D **

 **IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY **

<span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt;">JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2011 **

<span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt; text-align: center;">A N A C T <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt; text-align: center;">RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Introduced By __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt;">: List the Representatives who will submit the Bill for you __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Date Introduced __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt;">: __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt;">Referred To __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt;">: Leave Blank – the House Clerk will enter the information

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: ** Title of Bill: LEARNER’S PERMIT CARDS **

** 2 **   ** 3 **    ** 4 **    ** 5 **    ** 6 **    ** 7 **    ** 8 **    ** 9 **    ** 10 **    ** 11 **    ** 12 **  || <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Whereas limited learner’s permits are currently issued as 8 ½ inch by 11inch sheets of paper, and the normal course of events in a teenage lifestyle are not conducive to the preservation of such a paper, and the expense of replacing said papers is beyond the reasonably expectable,
 * ** 1 **

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">SECTION 1: Let limited learner’s permits be issued in the same format as regular state-issued driver’s licenses, as plastic laminate cards in similar proportion and format to current state-issued licenses to drive.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Section 2: Let prices for the creation of a permit rise no more than 3 dollars, 50 cents from the current price of $11.50, to no higher than $15.00.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">SECTION 3: This bill shall go into effect 100 days after passage. ||

__Press Release:__
For Immediate Release Contact: Tanner Buterbaugh Cell: 401-295-4028 March 21, 2006

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; font-size: 25pt; text-align: center;">Paper or Plastic? **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Student campaigns for plastic driver’s permits **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">North Kingstown, RI – On January 12th, in the North Kingstown High School Cafeteria, student and learner’s permit driver Tanner Buterbaugh will present a project in “Dialogues in Democracy” concerning paper learner’s permits and their lack of durability, looking for a better option for student driver licenses.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">“The problem with paper permits,” says Tanner Buterbaugh, student at NKHS and a permit-level driver, “is that modern teenagers live an active lifestyle. It’s unreasonable to expect a sheet of paper that is carried with a driver for 6 months to remain in good, readable condition; moreover, prices to reprint a paper permit are beyond the reasonable expectation.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Buterbaugh, along with his fellow students in the Active and Engaging Democracy class under Dr. Jay Walsh, have put together their projects on a plethora of local issues. Buterbaugh wants the DMV to update their policies concerning the six-month learner’s permits, issuing them as plastic cards less likely to be put through the wash or worn to an unreadable scrap of parchment.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Buterbaugh will be present at the “Dialogues in Democracy” from 7 to 8 pm on January 12th to speak with state officials and anyone interested in supporting the policy change in question. This event is open to the public and supported by the North Kingstown High School history department.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; text-align: center;">###

__Letter to Corresponding Official:__
<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: right;">Tanner Buterbaugh <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: right;">11 Exeter Road <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: right;">North Kingstown, RI 02852

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: right;">December 17, 2010

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Acting Director Rosemary Booth Gallogly <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Rhode Island Department of Revenue <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">One Capitol Hill <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Providence, RI 02908

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Dear Acting Director Gallogly:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I am writing as a Rhode Island Learner’s Permit holder, to invite you to the “Dialogues in Democracy” event at North Kingstown High School on January 12, 2011, from 7 to 8 pm to discuss a proposal of policy change concerning the format of Learner’s Permits.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">As a permit driver, I am required to keep a single sheet of 8 ½ by eleven inch paper containing my official information, including permit number, name, date of birth, and the dates of issue and expiration of my permit. These permit papers are easily destroyed in the regular course of day-to-day activities and are expensive to legally replace. The proposal I intend to make would provide for learner’s permits to be issued as cards similar to full driver’s licenses, more durable and secure than the current papers. This would save student drivers from spending $11.50 any time that their permits become wet or worn out from being carried in a pocket for months at a time. Plastic permits would also be nearly impossible to forge or photocopy, ensuring that permit holders whose permit is lost or stolen will have to pay a reissue fee, not just continue with a photocopy of the original document. This proposal benefits both <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">State offices and the drivers who must carry the permits; short of minor adjustments in language, this proposal could improve the DMV policy <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">quickly and easily.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The Active and Engaging Democracy classes of North Kingstown High School have put many hours of work into this forum; I look forward to speaking with you about the proposal I have outlined on January 12, 2011 at North Kingstown High School.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Sincerely,

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">J. Tanner Buterbaugh

__Public Service Announcement:__
<span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">James: MOM!!! YOU WASHED MY PERMIT AGAIN! <span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Mother: You’re KIDDING ME! This is the EIGTH time I’ve replaced your permit, James! This is ridiculous, why are we still doing this? I can’t keep paying twelve dollars a sheet for the state to print out paper. You need to check your pants pockets before the wash. <span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">James: It isn’t just the wash, Mom. Remember when I fell out of the canoe on that trip we took? Or the permit that you couldn’t read because it had been folded to fit into my wallet for three months? Or what about the time – <span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Mother: Alright, I understand. Let’s get in touch with that group, the Paper Doesn’t Last commission… they’re putting out a bill and a petition. Maybe if we sign and support it, we can make a change at the DMV. <span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Announcer: Paper doesn’t last, and people have the right to expect their legal documents to be issued in a durable, lasting format. Contact the Paper Doesn’t Last Commission for more information or to join an email listserve and stay informed about local change in government-issued documents.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 180%;">REMINDER: Dialogues for Democracy will be held at 7:00 PM Wednesday January 12th in the High School Cafeteria. You are required to be there.

Project Completed by: Add your names here. You can add you email addresses if you want people to be able to contact you.