ISP hopes new driving laws reduce crashes

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — If you are under 21 and behind the wheel in Indiana, you will have to put down your cell phone unless you need it to dial 911. This means no texting and no phone calls while driving down the roadways. There’s also a curfew for teen drivers between 16 and 18 years old.

Indiana State Police hope the change will decrease the number of crashes they see happen on a daily basis. If you are under 18 with a probationary license, you can’t be out on the roads unsupervised between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. Also take note, no driving Friday and Saturdays from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

The new law that went into effect July 1, 2015 also states that no passengers are allowed to sit next to a new teen driver within the first 6 months of receiving a license unless the passenger is at least 25, a spouse, sibling or parent.

Danielle Cuevas wishes the new rules were in place before her close friends got into an accident.

“When I was in high school two friends weren’t paying attention. They ended up flipping their car over and spent a lot of time in the hospital. It was a very bad accident and a big eye opener,” said the 19-year-old Cuevas.