A new state law aimed at strengthening teen driving regulations went into effect Tuesday, much to the approval of some local drivers.

The law, known as Act 81, ups the amount of supervised driving for teens with a learner’s permit from 50 hours to 65 hours, and also requires them to drive at least 10 hours in nighttime and five hours in inclement weather.

Furthermore, teens younger than 18 will now be barred from driving with more than one nonfamily member also younger than 18 for the first six months unless a parent accompanies them.

After six months of having a learner’s permit, teen drivers will be permitted to drive with up to three passengers under the age of 18.

The law also requires all minor drivers and passengers to wear their seat belts. Failure to do so will now be labeled a primary offense, meaning police can pull over and cite teen drivers for not wearing their belts.

For 16-year old Alanna Michalski of Valencia, who passed her driver’s test Tuesday and was among one of the first teens in the state to be subjected to the new rules, the seat belt provision of the new law doesn’t change anything about the way she intended to drive.

“I was always going to wear my seat belt anyway,” she said.

While some parts of the new law might irk teens anxious to get their license, especially the part requiring an increase in the number of hours logged, Michalski said she thinks the regulations will go a long way in promoting increased safety on local roads.

“I think the whole law is beneficial,” she said. “It’s going to help kids get out of accidents by making them get more training.”

Michalski’s mother, Jeanie, agreed with her daughter and said the language and requirements in the new law weren’t going to change anything about the way their family approaches teen driving.

“It was our policy that there’d only be one person allowed in the car anyway,” she said. “And she’s the first of our children to get her license, but our family practice has always been to drive with seat belts.”

During her training process with a learner’s permit, Alanna Michalski studied under Kevin Lenz, who owns and operates the Driving in a New America (D.I.A.N.A.) private driving school in Evans City.

The instructor, who interacts daily with teenagers learning to drive, said his company’s name is an acronym to honor his daughter, who died in a car accident in 1999.

He created the driving school in her memory and to save lives by teaching safe driving techniques and habits.

Lenz on Tuesday had praise for most parts of the new law, saying the seat belt provision is “extremely important,” while the aspect dealing with the number of teen passengers allowed in the car is “humungous.”

However, the driving instructor lobbed some criticism at one part of the law, adding that the increase in training hours has no way of being enforced.

“The only weak link in my experience is that there’s no way of tracking the hours,” he said. “It’s a shame that the only way of enforcing the new requirements is a parent signing a paper saying (their child) did it.”

Lenz added that some teen driving students he encounters freely admit they don’t keep an accurate log or any kind of log at all, a responsibility that falls on the parents as well as the teen driver.

“Some kids aren’t really keeping a log, so how do their parents know?” Lenz said. “If they were going to be dishonest about 50 hours of driving, then they’re also going to be dishonest with 65 hours.”

Perhaps the most important aspect of the new law is the part regulating the number of teen passengers allowed in the car, he said.

According to Lenz, when a teenage driver adds another teen to the car, the odds of a fatal crash are doubled. If two teenagers are added to the car, that risk is five times higher.

Cranberry Township Director of Public Safety Jeffrey Schueler added Tuesday he supports any new law that “can help save teen injuries or teen lives” and said he hasn’t come across any opposition to the new law in the limited discussions he’s had with people.

But while progress is being made in terms of making roads safer for teen and adult drivers alike, Schueler said the next step needs to be restrictions placed on cell phone use in vehicles.

“I was almost hit twice today coming down Route 8 from Butler and both times the people were using their cell phones,” he said. “Whether they’re talking, texting, dialing or on the Internet, cell phone use while driving is a real issue.”

As for the teen driving law, Schueler said he hopes it’s just one more piece of legislation that helps make the roads safer for every driver, regardless of age.

“Time will tell once we see the statistics on whether or not this new law is effective,” he said. “I hope it will be.”