BY RICK CALLAHAN Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- A bill that would ban drivers under 18 from using cell phones and impose other restrictions on teenage drivers passed a state Senate committee Tuesday after the panel heard emotional testimony about the dangers posed by young, inexperienced motorists.

The Senate Transportation Committee voted 9-1 to endorse the bill, which now heads to the full Senate for consideration after the committee removed some of its provisions.

Sen. Tom Wyss, the committee's chairman, said the legislation would save lives by better preparing young drivers for the challenges of maneuvering crowded city streets and highways as well as long stretches of rural roads.

Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, said it's difficult to predict whether the bill sponsored by Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, will have the support to pass the General Assembly. Similar bills have failed to pass in the two past legislative sessions.

"I really don't see how anyone can oppose this. It's about saving lives," Wyss said.

Under the bill, teen drivers with learner's permits would be required to log 50 hours of supervised driving experience -- 10 of those hours at night -- before getting a driver's license.

Drivers under the age of 18 would also be banned from using cell phones or other handheld telecommunication devices while behind the wheel. One of the bill's other provisions would push the minimum age for obtaining a driver's license up five months, to 16 and six months, if a teen takes driver's education classes, or 17 years old if they do not.

It also would set a minimum age of 15 <00BD> years for teens to obtain a learner's permit.

Several people who testified in favor of the bill Tuesday had suffered personal tragedies caused by young, inexperienced drivers.

Angie Pinna of Indianapolis held back tears as she recounted the November 2006 death of her 6-year-old daughter Jessica, who was killed when a 16-year-old driver failed to stop at a ston and slammed head-on into Pinna's car.

Pinna, 40, said she was returning home from a shopping trip with Jessica and her then 9-year-old sister, who was reading aloud from "Charlotte's Web" to her sibling.

The teen collided with their car a mile from their home, killing Jessica instantly.

"Losing Jessica has been extremely hard for our family," Pinna said, her voice choked with emotion. "She was just three weeks shy of her seventh birthday."

Ron Pownell of Walton, Ind., described the grief that followed a phone call he received in 1997 with the news that his daughter, Beth, had been killed in a car crash caused by a 16-year-old driver who had obtained a driver's license only 33 days before.

"That call changed so many lives forever -- it's changed the life of a 6-year-old boy who's now 17 and who has gone through life without a mother to love him. It's changed the lives of my wife Cindy and I as we've gone without the daughter we deeply loved," Pownell said, adding that the fatal crash also devastated the teen driver.

Sherry Deane, a spokeswoman for the AAA Hoosier Motor Club, testified that the bill's provision that teens get at least 50 hours of supervised driving practice -- including 10 hours at night -- before getting a driver's license is badly needed.

She said Hoosiers need to realize the great dangers teen drivers pose to themselves and others if they get their license before they're fully prepared for the challenges of driving.

"We would never expect a teen to become a great football player or be able to play a band instrument with no practice," Deane said. "Yet we've got the one thing that's more likely to take their life than anything else and they're required to have no practice at all."

Before Tuesday's hearing, the Senate committee removed a few provisions from the bill, including one that would have required the cars of newly licensed drivers to display a tag alerting other drivers of their novice driving status.

Wyss said he hopes insurance companies might step in and issue tags for young drivers' cars.