SPRINGFIELD – Two traffic safety legislative measures proposed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White were approved unanimously by the House Transportation Vehicles and Safety Committee and now proceed to the full House for its consideration.

The first measure, House Bill 1009, seeks to prohibit the issuance of a graduated driver’s license (GDL) to a driver under 18 that has an unresolved traffic citation. The legislation – named Kelsey’s Law in honor of Kelsey Little – also allows White’s office to cancel a GDL if it is determined that at the time of issuance the minor had a traffic citation for which a disposition had not been rendered. Under current law, a GDL applicant is not required to report any pending traffic citations.

“One of my top priorities as Secretary of State has been to continually strengthen our state’s heralded GDL program,” said White. “Since we implemented one of the nation’s most comprehensive GDL laws in the nation in 2008, teen driving fatalities have dropped by 50 percent.”