House File 2098 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY QUIRK
(COMPANION TO SF 350
BY DANDEKAR)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act concerning driver education instruction by a teaching
2 parent.
3 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 parent
1 5 may instruct a student in a driver education course that meets
1 6 the requirements of this section and provide evidence that the
1 7 requirements under this section have been met.
1 8 2. Definitions. For purposes of this section:
1 9 a. "Approved course" means driver education curriculum
1 10 approved by the department pursuant to rules adopted under
1 11 chapter 17A. An approved course shall, at a minimum, meet
1 12 the requirements of subsection 3 and be appropriate for
1 13 teaching=parent=directed driver education and related street or
1 14 highway instruction. Driver education materials that meet or
1 15 exceed standards established by the department for an approved
1 16 course in driver education for a public or private school shall
1 17 be approved unless otherwise determined by the department. The
1 18 list of approved courses shall be posted on the department's
1 19 internet site.
1 20 b. "Student" means a person between the ages of fourteen
1 21 and twenty=one years who is within the custody and control of
1 22 the teaching parent and who satisfies preliminary licensing
1 23 requirements of the department.
1 24 c. "Teaching parent" means a parent, guardian, or legal
1 25 custodian of a student who is currently providing competent
1 26 private instruction to the student pursuant to section
1 27 299A.2 or 299A.3 and who provided such instruction to the
1 28 student during the previous year; who has a valid driver's
1 29 license, other than a motorized bicycle license or a temporary
1 30 restricted license, that permits unaccompanied driving; and
1 31 who has maintained a clear driving record for the previous two
1 32 years. For purposes of this paragraph, "clear driving record"
1 33 means the individual has not been identified as a candidate for
1 34 suspension of a driver's license under the habitual offender
1 35 provisions of the department's regulations; is not subject to a
2 1 driver's license suspension, revocation, denial, cancellation,
2 2 disqualification, or bar; and has no record of a conviction
2 3 for a moving traffic violation determined to be the cause of a
2 4 motor vehicle accident.
2 5 3. Course of instruction.
2 6 a. An approved course administered by a teaching parent
2 7 shall consist of but not be limited to the following:
2 8 (1) Thirty clock hours of classroom instruction.
2 9 (2) Forty hours of street or highway driving including
2 10 four hours of driving after sunset and before sunrise while
2 11 accompanied by the teaching parent.
2 12 (3) Four hours of classroom instruction concerning
2 13 substance abuse.
2 14 (4) A minimum of twenty minutes of instruction concerning
2 15 railroad crossing safety.
2 16 (5) Instruction relating to becoming an organ donor under
2 17 the revised uniform anatomical gift Act as provided in chapter
2 18 142C.
2 19 (6) Instruction providing an awareness about sharing the
2 20 road with bicycles and motorcycles.
2 21 b. The content of the course of instruction required under
2 22 this subsection shall be equivalent to that required under
2 23 section 321.178. However, reference and study materials,
2 24 physical classroom requirements, and extra vehicle safety
2 25 equipment required for instruction under section 321.178 shall
2 26 not be required for the course of instruction provided under
2 27 this section.
2 28 4. Course completion and certification. Upon application
2 29 by a student for an intermediate license, the teaching parent
2 30 shall provide evidence showing the student's completion
2 31 of an approved course and substantial compliance with the
2 32 requirements of subsection 3 by affidavit signed by the
2 33 teaching parent on a form to be provided by the department.
2 34 The evidence shall include all of the following:
2 35 a. Documentation that the instructor is a teaching parent as
3 1 defined in subsection 2.
3 2 b. Documentation that the student is receiving competent
3 3 private instruction under section 299A.2 or the name of
3 4 the school district within which the student is receiving
3 5 instruction under section 299A.3.
3 6 c. The name of the approved course completed by the student.
3 7 d. An affidavit attesting to satisfactory completion of
3 8 course work and street or highway driving instruction.
3 9 e. Copies of written tests completed by the student.
3 10 f. A statement of the number of classroom hours of
3 11 instruction.
3 12 g. A log of completed street or highway driving instruction
3 13 including the dates when the lessons were conducted, the
3 14 student's and the teaching parent's name and initials noted
3 15 next to each entry, notes on driving activities including a
3 16 list of driving deficiencies and improvements, and the duration
3 17 of the driving time for each session.
3 18 5. Intermediate license. Any student who successfully
3 19 completes an approved course as provided in this section,
3 20 passes a driving test to be administered by the department,
3 21 and is otherwise qualified under section 321.180B, subsection
3 22 2, shall be eligible for an intermediate license pursuant
3 23 to section 321.180B. Twenty of the forty hours of street
3 24 or highway driving instruction required under subsection 3,
3 25 paragraph "a", subparagraph (2), may be utilized to satisfy the
3 26 requirement of section 321.180B, subsection 2.
3 27 6. Full license. A student must comply with section
3 28 321.180B, subsection 4, to be eligible for a full driver's
3 29 license pursuant to section 321.180B.
3 30 Sec. 2. Section 321.180B, subsection 2, Code Supplement
3 31 2009, is amended to read as follows:
3 32 2. Intermediate license.
3 33 a. The department may issue an intermediate driver's
3 34 license to a person sixteen or seventeen years of age who
3 35 possesses an instruction permit issued under subsection 1 or
4 1 a comparable instruction permit issued by another state for a
4 2 minimum of six months immediately preceding application, and
4 3 who presents an affidavit signed by a parent, guardian, or
4 4 custodian on a form to be provided by the department that the
4 5 permittee has accumulated a total of twenty hours of street
4 6 or highway driving of which two hours were conducted after
4 7 sunset and before sunrise and the street or highway driving was
4 8 with the permittee's parent, guardian, custodian, instructor,
4 9 a person certified by the department, or a person at least
4 10 twenty=five years of age who had written permission from a
4 11 parent, guardian, or custodian to accompany the permittee, and
4 12 whose driving privileges have not been suspended, revoked,
4 13 or barred under this chapter or chapter 321J during, and who
4 14 has been accident and violation free continuously for, the
4 15 six=month period immediately preceding the application for an
4 16 intermediate license. An applicant for an intermediate license
4 17 must meet the requirements of section 321.186, including
4 18 satisfactory completion of driver education as required in
4 19 section 321.178 or 321.179, and payment of the required license
4 20 fee before an intermediate license will be issued.
4 21 b. A person issued an intermediate license must limit the
4 22 number of passengers in the motor vehicle when the intermediate
4 23 licensee is operating the motor vehicle to the number of
4 24 passenger safety belts.
4 25 c. Except as otherwise provided, a person issued an
4 26 intermediate license under this subsection who is operating a
4 27 motor vehicle between the hours of twelve=thirty a.m. and five
4 28 a.m. must be accompanied by a person issued a driver's license
4 29 valid for the vehicle operated who is the parent, guardian,
4 30 or custodian of the permittee, a member of the permittee's
4 31 immediate family if the family member is at least twenty=one
4 32 years of age, an approved driver education instructor, a
4 33 prospective driver education instructor who is enrolled in
4 34 a practitioner preparation program with a safety education
4 35 program approved by the state board of education, or a person
5 1 at least twenty=five years of age if written permission is
5 2 granted by the parent, guardian, or custodian, and who is
5 3 actually occupying a seat beside the driver. However, a
5 4 licensee may operate a vehicle to and from school=related
5 5 extracurricular activities and work without an accompanying
5 6 driver between the hours of twelve=thirty a.m. and five a.m.
5 7 if such licensee possesses a waiver on a form to be provided by
5 8 the department. An accompanying driver is not required between
5 9 the hours of five a.m. and twelve=thirty a.m.
5 10 EXPLANATION
5 11 This bill allows a parent, guardian, or legal custodian who
5 12 is providing competent private instruction to a student to
5 13 teach the student driver education, provided the person has a
5 14 valid driver's license that permits unaccompanied driving and
5 15 has a clear driving record for the previous two years. The
5 16 classroom instruction requirements for the alternative course
5 17 of instruction are substantially the same as for an approved
5 18 course of instruction offered by a public school district or
5 19 private or commercial driver education school, with additional
5 20 requirements for 40, rather than 20, hours of street or highway
5 21 driving including night driving. The course of instruction
5 22 must be a course approved by the department of transportation
5 23 by rule and utilize driver education materials that meet or
5 24 exceed standards established for driver education courses
5 25 approved for public or private schools. A list of approved
5 26 courses is to be posted on the transportation department's
5 27 website.
5 28 In order for the student to qualify for an intermediate
5 29 driver's license, the teaching parent is required to document
5 30 substantial compliance with the driver education course
5 31 requirements and furnish an affidavit attesting to the
5 32 student's satisfactory completion of the course work and street
5 33 or highway driving to the department of education.
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