HOUSE FILE 2120

BY  HUNTER

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to requirements for instruction permits and driver’s licenses issued to persons under eighteen years of age.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.178, subsection 1, paragraph d, Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  “Student”, for purposes of this section, means a person between the ages of fourteen
 
sixteen years and twenty-one years who satisfies the preliminary licensing requirements of the department.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.180B, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The department may issue an instruction permit to an applicant between the ages of fourteen
 
sixteen and eighteen years if the applicant meets the requirements of sections 321.184 and 321.186, other than a driving demonstration, and pays the required fee. An instruction permit issued under this section shall be valid for a period not to exceed four years from the licensee’s birthday anniversary in the year of issuance. A motorcycle instruction permit issued under this section is not renewable.
    Sec. 3.  Section 321.180B, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The department may issue an intermediate driver’s license to a person sixteen or seventeen years of age who possesses an instruction permit issued under subsection 1 or a comparable instruction permit issued by another state for a minimum of six months immediately preceding application, and who presents an affidavit signed by a parent, guardian, or custodian on a form to be provided by the department that the permittee has accumulated a total of twenty hours of street or highway driving of which two hours were conducted after sunset and before sunrise and the street or highway driving was with the permittee’s parent, guardian, custodian, instructor, a person certified by the department, or a person at least twenty-five years of age who had written permission from a parent, guardian, or custodian to accompany the permittee, and whose driving privileges have not been suspended, revoked, or barred under this chapter or chapter 321J during, and who has been accident and violation free continuously for, the six-month period immediately preceding the application for an intermediate license. An applicant for an intermediate license must meet the requirements of section 321.186, including satisfactory completion of driver education as required in section 321.178, and payment of the required license fee before an intermediate license will be issued. A person issued an intermediate license must
 
shall limit the number of passengers in the motor vehicle when the intermediate licensee is operating the motor vehicle to the number of passenger safety belts.

A person issued an intermediate license shall not transport more than one passenger under twenty-one years of age, other than a person who is a member of the licensee’s immediate family, in a motor vehicle unless accompanied by a person over twenty-one years of age who has a driver’s license valid for the vehicle operated.
    Sec. 4.  Section 321.180B, subsection 3, Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Remedial driver improvement action —— suspension of permit,
 
or intermediate license, or full license.
   a.  A person who has been issued an instruction permit,
 
or an intermediate license, or a full driver’s license under this section, upon conviction of a moving traffic violation or involvement in a motor vehicle accident which occurred during the term of the instruction permit or intermediate license, shall be subject to remedial driver improvement action or suspension of the permit or current license. A person possessing an instruction permit who has been convicted of a moving traffic violation or has been involved in an accident shall not be issued an intermediate license until the person has completed the remedial driver improvement action and has been accident and violation free continuously for the six-month period immediately preceding the application for the intermediate license. A person possessing an intermediate license who has been convicted of a moving traffic violation or has been involved in an accident shall not be issued a full driver’s license until the person has completed the remedial driver improvement action and has been accident and violation free continuously for the twelve-month period immediately preceding the application for a full driver’s license.
   b.  The department may suspend an instruction permit,
 
or intermediate license, or full license issued under this section upon receiving satisfactory evidence that the person issued the instruction permit,
 
or intermediate license, or full license violated the restrictions imposed under subsection 1, 2, or 6 during the term of the instruction permit or intermediate license.
    Sec. 5.  Section 321.180B, subsection 4, Code Supplement 2011, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 6.  Section 321.194, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   Upon certification of a special need by the school board, superintendent of the applicant’s school, or principal, if authorized by the superintendent, the department may issue a class C or M driver’s license to a person between the ages of fourteen
 
sixteen and eighteen years whose driving privileges have not been suspended, revoked, or barred under this chapter or chapter 321J during, and who has not been convicted of a moving traffic violation or involved in a motor vehicle accident for, the six-month period immediately preceding the application for the special minor’s license and who has successfully completed an approved driver education course. However, the completion of a course is not required if the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that completion of the course would impose a hardship upon the applicant. The department shall adopt rules defining the term “hardship” and establish procedures for the demonstration and determination of when completion of the course would impose a hardship upon an applicant.
EXPLANATION
   This bill raises the minimum age required for issuance of an instruction permit to operate a motor vehicle from 14 to 16 years of age. Because an instruction permit is required for a student to participate in driver education, the bill amends the definition of “student”, for purposes of driver education provisions, to include persons between 16 and 21 years of age, and the bill raises the minimum age for issuance of a special minor’s license to drive to and from school to 16 years of age.
   Under current law, a person who has an intermediate driver’s license under the graduated driver licensing program must limit the number of passengers in a motor vehicle operated by the intermediate licensee to the number of passenger safety belts. The bill imposes a further passenger restriction by prohibiting an intermediate licensee from transporting more than one person under 21 years of age, other than an immediate family member, unless the intermediate licensee is accompanied by a licensed driver over 21 years of age.
   The bill eliminates the full driver’s license currently issued to a person 17 years of age who possesses an intermediate license, has satisfied hours-of-driving requirements, and has been accident and violation free for 12 months. Under the bill, a person would drive under an intermediate license until attaining 18 years of age.