Question about drivers permit.

[Perry]

Here are the rules for the Iowa drivers permit.

 

Instruction Permit

• Available at age 14

• Must be held for a minimum of 6 months

• Written approval of parent/guardian

• Vision screening and knowledge tests

• All driving must be supervised. May drive only with

parent/guardian, family member over 21, driver

education teacher, or driver over 25 with written

permission of parent/guardian

• Number of passengers limited to the number of seat

belts in the vehicle

• Must complete approved driver education course

• Must log 20 hours of supervised driving; minimum

of two hours must be between sunset and sunrise

• Must drive accident- and violation-free for six consecutive

months immediately prior to application for

intermediate license

• Instruction permit will have the words “under eighteenâ€

 

So are other passengers allowed in the car, like friends or sibs?

 

My dd was supposed to get a ride home from dance with a friend's dad last night. Instead, he let the 14 yo dd drive. She has had her permit for one month. This is not okay with me. I didn't think it was even legal to have anyone in the car except the supervisor, but now that I look at it, it's kind of ambiguous.

 

How do you interpret it? Do you let your novice drivers have passengers while they're learning to drive?

[peachskittles]

The way I interpret it is the supervisor person has to be the bolded part and you can have other passengers riding along. They make a note that the number of passengers in the vehicle should be limited to however many seatbelts there are in the vehicle which leads me to believe as long as you have a supervisor person in the vehicle, you can drive other people as well.

 

Now about the novice driver, I don't know how I would feel. Mine are still little and have some time. I guess it would depend on the child if I would let them drive other people around with me in the car.

[Mejane]

I read it as any passenger must be over 21, but I suggest you call for clarification. Here in CT, permit-holders may only drive one licensed passenger at a time.

[fivetails]

It sounds to me like the person in the FRONT PASSENGER SEAT [ie, the "supervisor"] must be one of these things: parent, family member over 21 [an older silbling, grandparent, etc - i would assume], drivers ed instructor, or someone else - unrelated, family friend/etc - who is over 25 and been given permission by the parents to supervise.

 

Then, any other seats may be occupied by *anyone* - as long as there aren't more passengers than seatbelts [weird that they word it that way, since seatbelts are the law..but maybe it's old wording..seems to me that there used to be - and may still be? - laws on the books that allowed for extra, unbelted passengers, IF all the belts were in use.]

 

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No, I would NOT be okay with my kids riding in a car with a beginner driver.

 

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Our province gives beginner permits at 14 as well, which I think is nuts. Our old province, you had to be 16.

 

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I believe the rules in our old province [don't know about here] stated that the only extra passengers allowed were "immediate family members of the LICENSED DRIVER - ie, the supervisor in the front passenger seat. This would allow for dad to teach son, while siblings were in the back, but would NOT allow for dad to teach son while son's bff was in the back.

 

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2nd time - NO WAY would I be okay with my kids driving in a car with a beginner like your situation... I'd be having some words with the father that put his daughter in the driver's seat! :001_huh:

[Perry]

 

Then, any other seats may be occupied by *anyone* - as long as there aren't more passengers than seatbelts [weird that they word it that way, since seatbelts are the law..but maybe it's old wording..seems to me that there used to be - and may still be? - laws on the books that allowed for extra, unbelted passengers, IF all the belts were in use.]

Our state law requires front seat occupants wear safety belts, but it's not required of anyone else.

[fivetails]

Our state law requires front seat occupants wear safety belts, but it's not required of anyone else.

 

Ahh. That would explain it.

[Chrystal]

I also read the rules as the supervisor must be a family member over the age of 21 or a non-family member over the age of 25 with permission, but that the passengers didn't have an age limit.

 

That said, I would have been upset. My solution would be not to allow my child to ride home with that family unless the parents agree that they are the ones who will be doing the driving.

I wouldn't even let my daughter make a short trip with an adult driver when the weather was supposed to be bad (snow in Alabama :001_smile:). She thought I was being overprotective, but several people were killed on the same roads that these people traveled. I am a pretty defensive driver, I just don't trust other people on the road to drive as safely as I do.

[Starr]

NY has changed it's laws for teen drivers. There are now limitations regarding teens and children in the car when teens have a permit.

 

I think a child that's only driven for a short while should not have anyone else in the car other than their parent. 14 is very young! The father should have driven.

 

I like the idea that you don't drive with new drivers until they've driven with a permanent license for at least a year. But I have let my dd ride with a family friend that still had a permit but had been driving for some time. The mother is a close friend of ours.

 

There are some statistics about crashes increasing per each young person in the car with a young driver. I'm sure you'll look into it and quote them for us soon. ;)

 

DD just turned 16 and driving is what we have in store for us this summer. The thought of her, quite responsible, driving me across the mountains is painful. :D

[AK_Mom4]

Here (AK), drivers with learners permits are specifically prohibited from driving with anyone under 21 in the car unless the passenger is a sibling. Then, when they get their license at 16, they have an additional 6mos where they are not allowed to have any passengers under 21 except siblings.

 

This seems like just good common sense to me. Having another teen in the car is a distraction. And, even if it wasn't the law, I would not want my teenager riding with an inexperienced, easily-distractible driver.

[Lolly]

I read it as the supervisor must meet those requirements. Other passengers may be of any age. That said, my rules are that we clear it with any parents of passengers first. For example, swim team friend's mom asks if Dave can have a ride to the pool on Monday. I tell her it would be fine for him to have a ride, but dd15 will be driving. THen, other mom can make the decision as to whether she wants Dave in the car with a permitted teen driver or not.

[dirty ethel rackham]

My son asked his drivers' ed teacher. He said that the supervising person had to meet those requirements. There could be other people in the car. We had my son do most of the around town driving as well as some of the vacation driving. Otherwise, he would never have gotten his hours in (in our state, the supervised driving time is 50 hours.) If they could not have anyone else in the car, I don't think they would put the next line in about each passenger needing a seat belt.

[Lolly]

Here (AK), drivers with learners permits are specifically prohibited from driving with anyone under 21 in the car unless the passenger is a sibling. Then, when they get their license at 16, they have an additional 6mos where they are not allowed to have any passengers under 21 except siblings.

 

This seems like just good common sense to me. Having another teen in the car is a distraction. And, even if it wasn't the law, I would not want my teenager riding with an inexperienced, easily-distractible driver.

 

According to the AK dmv, this is not true. Permitted drivers simply must have a licensed driver over 21 who has had a driver's license for at least 1 year.

This is from the AK dmv.

 

Provisional License Restrictions (Minimum of six months - up to the age of 18)

 

You may NOT carry passengers under the age of 21, except siblings.

You may NOT operate a motor vehicle between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

 

Exceptions:

unless accompanied by a person who is at least 21 years of age that is licensed to drive the type or class of vehicle being driven.

unless driving to or from your place of employment or within the scope of your employment. All driving must be along the most direct route.

Also, this is for the provisional license. A learner's permit requires the over 21 licensed driver anyway, and would thus be allowed to carry other passengers.

[TravelingChris]

I don't think it was okay regardless of the law. I certainly did not have any of my riders have passengers at only one month with a learner's permit. After about that, they may have had a sibling but not others.

[AK_Mom4]

Thanks, Lolly. I don't think I'll let my teens know, though. They supposedly read the manual to pass their permit tests and still think they can't take other teens in the car regardless. We'll just keep it that way for safety's sake.