House File 216 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 216 BY HEARTSILL , WINDSCHITL , SALMON , SCHULTZ , HUSEMAN , COSTELLO , LANDON , FISHER , SHEETS , SHAW , ALONS , HAGENOW , KLEIN , WATTS , and MAXWELL A BILL FOR An Act concerning driver education instruction by a teaching 1 parent. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1875YH (4) 85 dea/nh
H.F. 216 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 321.178A Driver education —— 1 teaching parent. 2 1. Teaching parent. As an alternative to the driver 3 education requirements under section 321.178, a teaching parent 4 may instruct a student in a driver education course that meets 5 the requirements of this section and provide evidence that the 6 requirements under this section have been met. 7 2. Definitions. For purposes of this section: 8 a. “Approved course” means driver education curriculum 9 approved by the department pursuant to rules adopted under 10 chapter 17A. An approved course shall, at a minimum, meet 11 the requirements of subsection 3 and be appropriate for 12 teaching-parent-directed driver education and related street or 13 highway instruction. Driver education materials that meet or 14 exceed standards established by the department for an approved 15 course in driver education for a public or private school shall 16 be approved unless otherwise determined by the department. The 17 list of approved courses shall be posted on the department’s 18 internet site. 19 b. “Student” means a person between the ages of fourteen 20 and twenty-one years who is within the custody and control of 21 the teaching parent and who satisfies preliminary licensing 22 requirements of the department. 23 c. “Teaching parent” means a parent, guardian, or legal 24 custodian of a student who is currently providing competent 25 private instruction to the student pursuant to section 26 299A.2 or 299A.3 and who provided such instruction to the 27 student during the previous year; who has a valid driver’s 28 license, other than a motorized bicycle license or a temporary 29 restricted license, that permits unaccompanied driving; and 30 who has maintained a clear driving record for the previous two 31 years. For purposes of this paragraph, “clear driving record” 32 means the individual has not been identified as a candidate 33 for suspension or revocation of a driver’s license under the 34 habitual violator or habitual offender provisions of the 35 -1- LSB 1875YH (4) 85 dea/nh 1/ 5
H.F. 216 department’s regulations; is not subject to a driver’s license 1 suspension, revocation, denial, cancellation, disqualification, 2 or bar; and has no record of a conviction for a moving traffic 3 violation determined to be the cause of a motor vehicle 4 accident. 5 3. Course of instruction. 6 a. An approved course administered by a teaching parent 7 shall consist of but not be limited to the following: 8 (1) Thirty clock hours of classroom instruction. 9 (2) Forty hours of street or highway driving including 10 four hours of driving after sunset and before sunrise while 11 accompanied by the teaching parent. 12 (3) Four hours of classroom instruction concerning 13 substance abuse. 14 (4) A minimum of twenty minutes of instruction concerning 15 railroad crossing safety. 16 (5) Instruction relating to becoming an organ donor under 17 the revised uniform anatomical gift Act as provided in chapter 18 142C. 19 (6) Instruction providing an awareness about sharing the 20 road with bicycles and motorcycles. 21 b. The content of the course of instruction required under 22 this subsection shall be equivalent to that required under 23 section 321.178. However, reference and study materials, 24 physical classroom requirements, and extra vehicle safety 25 equipment required for instruction under section 321.178 shall 26 not be required for the course of instruction provided under 27 this section. 28 4. Course completion and certification. Upon application 29 by a student for an intermediate license, the teaching parent 30 shall provide evidence showing the student’s completion 31 of an approved course and substantial compliance with the 32 requirements of subsection 3 by affidavit signed by the 33 teaching parent on a form to be provided by the department. 34 The evidence shall include all of the following: 35 -2- LSB 1875YH (4) 85 dea/nh 2/ 5
H.F. 216 a. Documentation that the instructor is a teaching parent as 1 defined in subsection 2. 2 b. Documentation that the student is receiving competent 3 private instruction under section 299A.2 or the name of 4 the school district within which the student is receiving 5 instruction under section 299A.3. 6 c. The name of the approved course completed by the student. 7 d. An affidavit attesting to satisfactory completion of 8 course work and street or highway driving instruction. 9 e. Copies of written tests completed by the student. 10 f. A statement of the number of classroom hours of 11 instruction. 12 g. A log of completed street or highway driving instruction 13 including the dates when the lessons were conducted, the 14 student’s and the teaching parent’s name and initials noted 15 next to each entry, notes on driving activities including a 16 list of driving deficiencies and improvements, and the duration 17 of the driving time for each session. 18 5. Intermediate license. Any student who successfully 19 completes an approved course as provided in this section, 20 passes a driving test to be administered by the department, 21 and is otherwise qualified under section 321.180B, subsection 22 2, shall be eligible for an intermediate license pursuant 23 to section 321.180B. Twenty of the forty hours of street 24 or highway driving instruction required under subsection 3, 25 paragraph “a” , subparagraph (2), may be used to satisfy the 26 requirement of section 321.180B, subsection 2. 27 6. Full license. A student must comply with section 28 321.180B, subsection 4, to be eligible for a full driver’s 29 license pursuant to section 321.180B. 30 Sec. 2. Section 321.180B, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 31 2013, is amended to read as follows: 32 a. The department may issue an intermediate driver’s 33 license to a person sixteen or seventeen years of age who 34 possesses an instruction permit issued under subsection 1 or 35 -3- LSB 1875YH (4) 85 dea/nh 3/ 5
H.F. 216 a comparable instruction permit issued by another state for a 1 minimum of six months immediately preceding application, and 2 who presents an affidavit signed by a parent, guardian, or 3 custodian on a form to be provided by the department that the 4 permittee has accumulated a total of twenty hours of street 5 or highway driving of which two hours were conducted after 6 sunset and before sunrise and the street or highway driving was 7 with the permittee’s parent, guardian, custodian, instructor, 8 a person certified by the department, or a person at least 9 twenty-five years of age who had written permission from a 10 parent, guardian, or custodian to accompany the permittee, and 11 whose driving privileges have not been suspended, revoked, 12 or barred under this chapter or chapter 321J during, and who 13 has been accident and violation free continuously for, the 14 six-month period immediately preceding the application for an 15 intermediate license. An applicant for an intermediate license 16 must meet the requirements of section 321.186 , including 17 satisfactory completion of driver education as required in 18 section 321.178 or 321.178A , and payment of the required 19 license fee before an intermediate license will be issued. A 20 person issued an intermediate license must limit the number of 21 passengers in the motor vehicle when the intermediate licensee 22 is operating the motor vehicle to the number of passenger 23 safety belts. 24 EXPLANATION 25 This bill allows a parent, guardian, or legal custodian who 26 is providing competent private instruction to a student to 27 teach the student driver education, provided the person has a 28 valid driver’s license that permits unaccompanied driving and 29 has a clear driving record for the previous two years. The 30 classroom instruction requirements for the alternative course 31 of instruction are substantially the same as for an approved 32 course of instruction offered by a public school district or 33 private or commercial driver education school, with additional 34 requirements for 40, rather than 20, hours of street or highway 35 -4- LSB 1875YH (4) 85 dea/nh 4/ 5
H.F. 216 driving including night driving. The course of instruction 1 must be a course approved by the department of transportation 2 by rule and use driver education materials that meet or exceed 3 standards established for driver education courses approved for 4 public or private schools. A list of approved courses is to be 5 posted on the transportation department’s website. 6 In order for the student to qualify for an intermediate 7 driver’s license, the teaching parent is required to document 8 substantial compliance with the driver education course 9 requirements and furnish an affidavit attesting to the 10 student’s satisfactory completion of the course work and street 11 or highway driving to the department of education. 12 -5- LSB 1875YH (4) 85 dea/nh 5/ 5