HF 549 (LSB 1468HV (3) 87)

HOUSE FILE 549

BY  COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 84)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to parent-taught driver education and providing for a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.178A, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   321.178A  Driver Parent-taught driver education —— teaching parent.
   1.  Teaching parent Instruction by qualified parent.  As an alternative to the driver education requirements under section 321.178, a teaching qualified parent may instruct a student in a driver education course that meets the requirements of this section and provide evidence that the requirements under this section have been met.
   2.  Definitions.  For purposes of this section:
   a.  “Approved course” means driver education curriculum approved by the department pursuant to rules adopted under chapter 17A. An approved course shall, at a minimum, meet the requirements of subsection 3 and be appropriate for teaching-parent-directed parent-directed driver education and related street or highway instruction. Driver education materials that meet or exceed standards established by the department for an approved course in driver education for a public or private school shall be approved unless otherwise determined by the department. The list of approved courses shall be posted on the department’s internet site.
   b.  “Student” means a person between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one years who is within the custody and control of the teaching parent and who satisfies preliminary licensing requirements of the department.
   c. b.  “Teaching parent” “Qualified parent” means a person who is a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a student who is currently providing competent private instruction to the student pursuant to section 299A.2 or 299A.3 and who provided such instruction to the student during the previous year; who, provided that the person has a valid driver’s license, other than a motorized bicycle license or a temporary restricted license, that permits unaccompanied driving; and who the person has maintained a clear driving record for the previous two years. For purposes of this paragraph, “clear driving record” means the individual person has not been identified as a candidate for suspension or revocation of a driver’s license under the habitual violator or habitual offender provisions of the department’s regulations; is not subject to a driver’s license suspension, revocation, denial, cancellation, disqualification, or bar; and has no record of a conviction for a moving traffic violation determined to be the cause of a motor vehicle accident.
   c.  “Student” means a person between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one years who is within the custody and control of the qualified parent and who satisfies preliminary licensing requirements of the department.
   2A.  License to teach.  A qualified parent shall submit an application for a license to teach driver education to a student under this section. A license issued to a qualified parent shall be issued for a calendar year and may be renewed. The fee for a license or the renewal of a license under this section is fifty dollars. The fees collected for a license issued or renewed under this section are appropriated to the department to be used by the department to administer this section.
   3.  Course of instruction.
   a.  An approved course administered by a teaching qualified parent shall consist of but not be limited to the following:
   (1)  Thirty clock hours of classroom instruction.
   (2)  Forty hours of street or highway driving including four hours of driving after sunset and before sunrise while accompanied by the teaching qualified parent.
   (3)  Four hours of classroom instruction concerning substance abuse.
   (4)  A minimum of twenty minutes of instruction concerning railroad crossing safety.
   (5)  Instruction relating to becoming an organ donor under the revised uniform anatomical gift Act as provided in chapter 142C.
   (6)  Instruction providing an awareness about sharing the road with bicycles and motorcycles.
   b.  The content of the course of instruction required under this subsection shall be equivalent to that required under section 321.178. However, reference and study materials, physical classroom requirements, and extra vehicle safety equipment required for instruction under section 321.178 shall not be required for the course of instruction provided under this section.
   4.  Course completion and certification.  Upon application by a student for an intermediate license, the teaching qualified parent shall provide evidence showing the student’s completion of an approved course and substantial compliance with the requirements of subsection 3 by affidavit signed by the teaching qualified parent on a form to be provided by the department. The evidence shall include all of the following:
   a.  Documentation that the instructor is a teaching qualified parent as defined in subsection 2.
   b.  Documentation that the student is receiving competent private instruction under section 299A.2 or the name of the school district within which the student is receiving instruction under section 299A.3.
   c. b.  The name of the approved course completed by the student.
   d. c.  An affidavit attesting to satisfactory completion of course work and street or highway driving instruction.
   e. d.  Copies of written tests completed by the student.
   f. e.  A statement of the number of classroom hours of instruction.
   g. f.  A log of completed street or highway driving instruction including the dates when the lessons were conducted, the student’s and the teaching qualified parent’s name and initials noted next to each entry, notes on driving activities including a list of driving deficiencies and improvements, and the duration of the driving time for each session.
   5.  Intermediate license.  Any student who successfully completes an approved course as provided in this section, passes a driving test to be administered by the department, and is otherwise qualified under section 321.180B, subsection 2, shall be eligible for an intermediate license pursuant to section 321.180B. Twenty of the forty hours of street or highway driving instruction required under subsection 3, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (2), may be used to satisfy the requirement of section 321.180B, subsection 2.
   6.  Full license.  A student must comply with section 321.180B, subsection 4, to be eligible for a full driver’s license pursuant to section 321.180B.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill expands current law to allow any qualified parent to teach driver education to that parent’s child if the qualified parent meets certain requirements, including but not limited to applying for a license to teach their child and payment of a $50 fee for a one-year renewable license. Current law allows a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a student who is providing competent private instruction to that student to teach the student driver education, provided the person has a valid driver’s license that permits unaccompanied driving and has a clear driving record for the previous two years. 
   The requirements for a driver education course taught by a qualified parent are the same as the requirements currently applicable to a course taught by a “teaching parent”. “Qualified parent” is defined to include a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a student, provided the person has a valid driver’s license that permits unaccompanied driving and has a clear driving record for the previous two years.
   The classroom instruction requirements for the alternative course of instruction are substantially the same as for an approved course of instruction offered by a public school district or private or commercial driver education school, with additional requirements for 40, rather than 20, hours of street or highway driving including night driving. The course of instruction must be a course approved by the department of transportation by rule and use driver education materials that meet or exceed standards established for driver education courses approved for public or private schools. A list of approved courses must be posted on the department of transportation’s internet site. In order for the student to qualify for an intermediate driver’s license, the qualified parent is required to document substantial compliance with the driver education course requirements and furnish an affidavit attesting to the student’s satisfactory completion of the course work and street or highway driving to the department of education.
   The license fees collected by the department of transportation are appropriated to the department for purposes of administering parent-taught driver education.