The secretary of state wants to reward good drivers by letting them renew their licenses by phone or mail, and at the same time the state will save $400,000, a state spokesman says.

Dave Urbanek, Secretary of State George Ryan’s press secretary, said if the proposed bill passes the General Assembly and is approved by the governor, good drivers would be notified by mail when it is time to renew their license.

He said drivers would be provided with a toll-free number to call to renew their licenses and would then receive a sticker in the mail to place on the back of their license.

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Urbanek said the Safe Driver Renewal program would allow the drivers age 21 to 75 to appear in person once every eight years for the eye exam. Urbanek said that fewer than one-half of 1 percent of drivers flunk the eye exam.

He said the drivers would be saved the time of going to the Department of Motor Vehicles. He also said the state would save $400,000 on materials used to produce the drivers licenses.

Ryan’s program defines a good driver as one with no moving violations, no wrecks on record that resulted in injury or death and no drunken-driving tickets, Urbanek said.

School bus drivers, truck drivers and others who hold commercial licenses would also be exempt from the law, Urbanek said.

Urbanek said the program is similar to one that is in 11 other states, such as California and Michigan. He said the renewal fee would be $10, the same as a renewal at a driver’s license facility.

This program would not cost the taxpayers, and the cost could be handled within the department without a rise in fees for the driver, he said.

Urbanek said Ryan would like to expand the service to include renewal by Internet and fax machine. He said the bill has to pass approval of the General Assembly and the governor this summer.

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If this passes, it would become law by January 1997, he said.