- State Rep. Nicholeen Peck is no longer trying to lower the minimum driving age in Utah this session.
- House Bill 464 now focuses on allowing parents to teach driver's education courses to their kids.
- The Driver's License Division already has materials for parents to teach the courses.
Utahns worried about more teen drivers on the roads can breathe a sigh of relief. A bill that would have lowered the driver’s license age in Utah has been amended.
HB464 from Rep. Nicholeen Peck, R-Tooele, originally lowered the minimum age for learner’s permits to 14 years and six months and the minimum age for driver’s licenses in the state to 15 years and six months. That provision has since been removed.
While presenting her bill to the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday, Peck addressed the removal of that part of the bill.
“We decided, after a lot of conversation with colleagues, that piece is just not ready yet and is going to need a lot more conversations,” she said.
The bill now exclusively addresses driver’s education, and would specifically allow parents to teach driver’s education courses to their kids.
The idea for the bill was originally brought to Peck by a constituent, Kiara Poynter, who is a student at Tooele High School. Poynter gave the representative both the idea to lower the driving age and to allow parents to teach driver’s education courses.
Poynter presented the bill alongside Peck on Tuesday and spoke about the driver’s education portion of the bill.
“This would be helpful because some families do not have the time, money, or space in their school schedules, and some families simply don’t feel that the traditional school or county driver’s education programs are the right fit for their child,” she said.
Peck explained that Utah’s Driver’s License Division already has materials available for parents to teach their kids driver’s education. The problem is that when teenagers get their learner’s permit, the only official options for driver’s education courses are through their school or a third-party provider.
HB464 would make it so teenagers have a third option: having their parents teach them driver’s education. Peck also clarified that parents would not be administering any official tests — both written and driving tests — those would still fall under the purview of the DLD.
The representative added that parents often better understand how their kids learn, and this can also help parents become better drivers as well. She also emphasized how important being able to drive can be for teenagers.
“Learning how to drive is one of those rite of passage things where they step out of their comfort zone. It helps them be able to get a job, helps them be able to date, it helps them to be able to do all of these things,” Peck said.