AUGUSTA, Maine — “Taylor’s Law,” a bill vetoed by Gov. Paul LePage last week, was revived Wednesday when the Senate voted 23-11 against the governor’s effort to kill the bill.
Taylor’s Law, LD 737, seeks to strengthen the enforcement of an existing law that bars drivers with intermediate licenses from carrying passengers except under certain circumstances. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kimberley Rosen, R-Bucksport, would provide decals that could be posted on vehicles of intermediate drivers.
The bill is named after 15-year-old Taylor Darveau of Bucksport, who died in an October 2013 car crash in a vehicle being driven by a 16-year-old with an intermediate license. Maine law bars drivers with intermediate licenses from carrying passengers who are not immediate family members unless an experienced driver also is on board.
The stickers proposed in Taylor’s Law, which would be free of charge, would serve as notices to other drivers, families and law enforcement officers that an intermediate driver is behind the wheel. The original version of the bill would have made the decals mandatory. It was amended in the committee process to make the decals voluntary.
Rosen said in a prepared statement that she was grateful for lawmakers’ continuing support of her bill.
“Had Taylor’s parents been given this option, things might be very different today,” said Rosen in a prepared statement. “Had they seen this decal on the car that Taylor got into, alerting them that the driver was not experienced enough to take a passenger, Taylor would be alive today.”
LD 737 is supported by Darveau’s parents, Christina and Corey Davreau, as well as numerous Bucksport-area residents who have testified to lawmakers in recent months.
Taylor Darveau, a Bucksport High School cheerleader, had just attended a dinner at the school with the football team. The vehicle she was in, driven by a classmate, hit a tree on Bucksmills Road. Darveau was later pronounced dead; the driver, Samantha Goode, was injured but survived.
LePage said in his veto letter that he feared the sticker would give criminals an advantage.
“This particular decal could allow criminals to easily identify vehicles in which the driver will most likely be alone and young,” wrote LePage.
The bill received unanimous support on its first pass through the Legislature.
The veto override effort moves to the House, where a two-thirds vote will be necessary if the bill is to survive.
