A state House committee is recommending that the legislature take up a bill that would allow 15-to 18-year-olds to receive driving and classroom instruction from their parents. (David Prahl | iStock, Getty Images)
Republicans on the House Transportation Committee are recommending legislation allowing families to provide a “home school” version of driver’s education.
House Bill 55 would end the requirement that teenagers between 15 and 18 years old take an approved driver’s education course in New Hampshire and would allow those teenagers to receive driving and classroom instruction from their parents instead. The bill would still require all learners to pass the state exam and driving test to receive a license.
Currently, New Hampshire residents 18 and over do not need to take a driver’s education program to receive a license as long as they pass the exam and driving test.
The committee voted 9-8 Tuesday to recommend the bill.
Proponents say driver’s education has become too expensive and difficult to obtain. That instruction used to be available through public schools, but in 2007, lawmakers ended a state Department of Education program that provided funding for schools to do so, and most public schools have since ended their programs.
Today, driver’s education programs can cost between $800 and $900 per person. And demand is high.
“NH Driver Education classes fill quickly therefore it is recommended that you contact an approved commercial driver education school or a local high school program several months in advance for enrollment information,” the Division of Motor Vehicles states on its website.
But while libertarian-minded Republicans champion the bill as a means to restore parental control and cut costs, others argue home school driver’s ed poses safety risks.
“I think this is a horrible idea — I always have,” said Rep. Thomas Walsh, a Hooksett Republican and the chairman of the Transportation Committee. “…We are talking about driver’s ed for our kids, 16 and 17 years old. And I think the system we have works.”
Walsh said he would instead support a renewed effort by the DMV to increase driver’s ed programs and improve their affordability.
John Marasco, director of the New Hampshire DMV, told the committee Tuesday that the division is working on that issue but has limited resources.
This year the DMV partnered with the New Hampshire Automobile Dealer’s Association, the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights, and the New Hampshire Driver Education Teachers Association to create a scholarship to help students afford the instruction, Marasco said.
“The applications are coming in fast and furious,” he said.
But that scholarship has limited funds, and so far has awarded about 20 scholarships. A $25,000 donation from the Exeter Car Dealers Association last month will help, but the money will soon run out, Marasco said.
Rep. Marc Plamondon, a Nashua Democrat, said he supported the idea behind the parent-led driver’s education legislation but said would want to see better guardrails.
“Another concern that I have is just assuming that the parents are good drivers and know the laws of the road,” he said. “… I want to see something of more of an onus on the parent and also documentation that would be provided to the DMV, maybe a certified document stating that the parent did in fact drive with the student.”
The committee was less favorable Tuesday to another bill that would eliminate the annual vehicle inspection requirements for non-commercial New Hampshire vehicles. The committee voted not to recommend that legislation, House Bill 646, 14-3.
Because the legislative biennium ends this year and a new legislature will take office in December, the committee’s votes are only recommendations for future legislation; any bills to carry them out will need to be filed by lawmakers.
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