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House Bill 339 |
House Author: Phillips et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
Senate Sponsor: Carona |
House Bill 339 amends the Education Code to require a school district to consider offering a driver education and traffic safety course each school year and authorizes a district to conduct the course and charge a fee comparable to the fee charged by a licensed driver education school or to contract with such a licensed driver education school to conduct the course. The bill authorizes the commissioner of education to charge a fee to each driver education school in an amount not to exceed the actual expense incurred in the regulation of such courses.
House Bill 339 requires the commissioner to establish or approve the curriculum and designate the textbooks for a driver education course for minors and adults, including a course conducted by a school district, driver education school, or parent or other individual, and it sets forth minimum requirements for the number of hours of the different types of instruction that a student must complete in the presence of a licensed instructor or authorized adult. The bill also requires the commissioner to establish the curriculum and designate the educational materials for an adult driver education course, establishes specific course content requirements, and authorizes its offering as an online course. The commissioner must require each curriculum to include information on the effect of using a wireless communication device or engaging in certain other activity on motor vehicle operation. The bill prohibits the commissioner from issuing or renewing an instructor license to a person with six or more points on the person's driver's license.
House Bill 339 amends the Transportation Code to lower from 25 to 21 the age below which an applicant for a driver's license must state on the application whether the applicant has completed a driver education course, and it prohibits the Department of Public Safety (DPS) from issuing a license to a person younger than 21 unless the person submits a certificate stating that the person has passed a driver education and traffic safety course approved by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) or a DPS-approved or TEA-approved driver education course. Under certain conditions, the bill provides a waiver from the requirement to take the highway sign and traffic law parts of the required examination for a person who has completed and passed a TEA-approved driver education course but prohibits the public safety director from waiving the required driving test for an applicant who is under 18 years of age.
The bill authorizes DPS to issue a driver's license to an applicant under 18 years of age if, among other requirements, the applicant has submitted written parental or guardian permission for DPS to access the applicant's school enrollment records, and it requires DPS and TEA to enter into a memorandum of understanding allowing DPS to access TEA's electronic enrollment records, but only to the extent necessary to verify an applicant's identity and enrollment and only with the written permission of the applicant's parent or guardian. The bill includes a person's foster parent among the adult relatives or guardians who may conduct a DPS-approved driver education course for that person and adds the condition that such an adult not have six or more points on the person's driver's license at the time the person begins conducting the course.
The bill requires DPS to collect data regarding collisions of students taught by the various schools and instructors offering driver education courses for which a certificate of completion is issued and to publish, not later than October 1 of each year, the collision rate for students taught by each of the above entities, noting the severity of collisions involving students of each entity and each type of course. The bill requires DPS to determine the number of minor students taught by each of the above who become licensed during the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2010, and to publish the first issue not later than October 31, 2010. The bill also requires DPS, not later than November 30, 2009, to appoint a task force to review and make recommendations on the effectiveness of TEA materials used in licensed or authorized courses.
The bill provides that a provisional license or instruction permit expires on the license or permit holder's 18th birthday, increases the fee for such a license or permit from $5 to $15, extends the duration of the nighttime driving restrictions on a person under 18 years of age and a person under 17 years of age who holds a restricted motorcycle or moped license, and allows such a driver to drive while using a wireless communications device in an emergency.