Senate File 103 - Introduced
SENATE FILE
BY BRUNKHORST, BOETTGER,
MULDER, McKINLEY, WARD,
JOHNSON, BEHN, KETTERING,
LUNDBY, SEYMOUR, ZAUN,
McKIBBEN, HAHN, WIECK,
GASKILL, PUTNEY, ZIEMAN,
LAMBERTI, and IVERSON
Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to driver education by a teaching parent.
2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 321.179 DRIVER EDUCATION ==
1 2 TEACHING PARENT.
1 3 1. TEACHING PARENT. As an alternative to the driver
1 4 education requirements under section 321.178, a teaching
1 5 parent may instruct a student in a driver education course
1 6 that meets the requirements of this section and provide
1 7 evidence that the requirements under this section have been
1 8 met.
1 9 2. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this section:
1 10 a. "Approved course" means driver education curriculum
1 11 approved by the department pursuant to rules adopted under
1 12 chapter 17A. An approved course shall, at a minimum, meet the
1 13 requirements of subsection 3 and be appropriate for teaching=
1 14 parent=directed driver education and related street or highway
1 15 instruction. Driver education materials that meet or exceed
1 16 standards established by the department for an approved course
1 17 in driver education for a public or private school shall be
1 18 approved unless otherwise determined by the department. The
1 19 list of approved courses shall be posted on the department's
1 20 website.
1 21 b. "Student" means a person who is at least fourteen but
1 22 not yet eighteen years of age who is within the custody and
1 23 control of the teaching parent and who satisfies preliminary
1 24 licensing requirements of the department.
1 25 c. "Teaching parent" means a parent, guardian, or legal
1 26 custodian of a student who is currently providing competent
1 27 private instruction to the student pursuant to section 299A.2
1 28 or 299A.3 and who provided such instruction to the student
1 29 during the previous year; who has a valid driver's license,
1 30 other than a motorized bicycle license or a temporary
1 31 restricted license, that permits unaccompanied driving; and
1 32 who has maintained a clear driving record for the previous two
1 33 years. For purposes of this paragraph, "clear driving record"
1 34 means the individual has not been identified as a candidate
1 35 for suspension of a driver's license under the habitual
2 1 offender provisions of this chapter; is not subject to a
2 2 driver's license suspension, revocation, denial, cancellation,
2 3 disqualification, or bar; and has no record of a conviction
2 4 for a moving traffic violation determined to be the cause of a
2 5 motor vehicle accident.
2 6 3. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. An approved course administered
2 7 by a teaching parent shall consist of, but not be limited to,
2 8 the following:
2 9 a. Thirty clock hours of classroom instruction.
2 10 b. Forty hours of street or highway driving while
2 11 accompanied by the teaching parent, including four hours of
2 12 driving after sunset and before sunrise.
2 13 c. Four hours of classroom instruction concerning
2 14 substance abuse.
2 15 d. A minimum of twenty minutes of instruction concerning
2 16 railroad crossing safety.
2 17 e. Instruction relating to becoming an organ donor under
2 18 the uniform anatomical gift Act.
2 19 The content of the course of instruction required under
2 20 this subsection shall be equivalent to that required under
2 21 section 321.178. However, reference and study materials,
2 22 physical classroom requirements, and extra vehicle safety
2 23 equipment required for instruction under section 321.178 shall
2 24 not be required for the course of instruction provided under
2 25 this section.
2 26 4. COURSE COMPLETION AND CERTIFICATION. Upon application
2 27 by a student for an intermediate license, the teaching parent
2 28 shall provide evidence showing the student's completion of an
2 29 approved course and substantial compliance with the
2 30 requirements of subsection 3 by affidavit signed by the
2 31 teaching parent on a form to be provided by the department.
2 32 The evidence shall include all of the following:
2 33 a. Documentation that the instructor is a teaching parent
2 34 as defined in subsection 2.
2 35 b. Documentation that the student is receiving competent
3 1 private instruction under section 299A.2 or the name of the
3 2 school district within which the student is receiving
3 3 instruction under section 299A.3.
3 4 c. The name of the approved course completed by the
3 5 student.
3 6 d. An affidavit attesting to satisfactory completion of
3 7 course work and street or highway driving instruction.
3 8 e. Copies of written tests completed by the student.
3 9 f. A statement of the number of classroom hours of
3 10 instruction.
3 11 g. A log of completed street or highway driving
3 12 instruction including the dates when the lessons were
3 13 conducted, the student's and the teaching parent's name and
3 14 initials noted next to each entry, notes on driving activities
3 15 including a list of driving deficiencies and improvements, and
3 16 the duration of the driving time for each session.
3 17 5. INTERMEDIATE LICENSE. Any student who successfully
3 18 completes an approved course as provided in this section,
3 19 passes a driving test to be administered by the department,
3 20 and is otherwise qualified under section 321.180B, subsection
3 21 2, shall be eligible for an intermediate license pursuant to
3 22 section 321.180B. Twenty of the forty hours of street or
3 23 highway driving instruction required under subsection 3,
3 24 paragraph "b", may be utilized to satisfy the requirement of
3 25 section 321.180B, subsection 2.
3 26 6. FULL LICENSE. A student must comply with section
3 27 321.180B, subsection 4, to be eligible for a full driver's
3 28 license pursuant to section 321.180B.
3 29 Sec. 2. Section 321.180B, subsection 2, unnumbered
3 30 paragraph 1, Code 2005, is amended to read as follows:
3 31 The department may issue an intermediate driver's license
3 32 to a person sixteen or seventeen years of age who possesses an
3 33 instruction permit issued under subsection 1 or a comparable
3 34 instruction permit issued by another state for a minimum of
3 35 six months immediately preceding application, and who presents
4 1 an affidavit signed by a parent or guardian on a form to be
4 2 provided by the department that the permittee has accumulated
4 3 a total of twenty hours of street or highway driving of which
4 4 two hours were conducted after sunset and before sunrise and
4 5 the street or highway driving was with the permittee's parent,
4 6 guardian, instructor, a person certified by the department, or
4 7 a person at least twenty=five years of age who had written
4 8 permission from a parent or guardian to accompany the
4 9 permittee, and whose driving privileges have not been
4 10 suspended, revoked, or barred under this chapter or chapter
4 11 321J during, and who has been accident and conviction free
4 12 continuously for, the six=month period immediately preceding
4 13 the application for an intermediate license. An applicant for
4 14 an intermediate license must meet the requirements of section
4 15 321.186, including satisfactory completion of driver education
4 16 as required in section 321.178 or 321.179, and payment of the
4 17 required license fee before an intermediate license will be
4 18 issued. A person issued an intermediate license must limit
4 19 the number of passengers in the motor vehicle when the
4 20 intermediate licensee is operating the motor vehicle to the
4 21 number of passenger safety belts.
4 22 EXPLANATION
4 23 This bill creates an alternative means for a student who is
4 24 at least 14 years of age to receive driver education
4 25 instruction currently offered by public schools to qualify for
4 26 an intermediate driver's license. The bill allows a parent,
4 27 guardian, or legal custodian who is providing competent
4 28 private instruction to a student to teach the student driver
4 29 education, provided the person has a valid driver's license
4 30 that permits unaccompanied driving and has a clear driving
4 31 record for the previous two years. The classroom instruction
4 32 requirements for the alternative course of instruction are
4 33 substantially the same as for an approved course of
4 34 instruction offered by a public school district or private or
4 35 commercial driver education school, with additional
5 1 requirements for 40, rather than 20, hours of street or
5 2 highway driving including night driving. The course of
5 3 instruction must be a course approved by the state department
5 4 of transportation by rule and utilize driver education
5 5 materials that meet or exceed standards established for driver
5 6 education courses approved for public or private schools. A
5 7 list of approved courses is to be posted on the transportation
5 8 department's website.
5 9 The teaching parent is required to document substantial
5 10 compliance with the driver education course requirements and
5 11 furnish an affidavit attesting to the student's satisfactory
5 12 completion of the course work and street or highway driving to
5 13 the department of education.
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