Bill Description: House Bill 133 would allow most parents and legal guardians to provide driver training for their children in lieu of formal driver's training. 

Rating: +1

NOTE: House Bill 133 is similar to House Bill 86, introduced earlier this session, but it differs in one key respect that makes it less beneficial to Idahoans. House Bill 86 would define a "parent or legal guardian" who could provide driver training as "any family member twenty-one (21) years of age or older." This would allow a grandparent or other relative to help supervise the 92 hours of training required by this section. It would also let a grandparent or other relative serve as the instructor if the parent or legal guardian didn't have a driver's license or didn't feel confident providing instruction. House Bill 133 does not contain this provision, which means the training must be provided only by a parent or legal guardian. House Bill 133 still receives a positive rating, but House Bill 86 remains a better bill.

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

House Bill 133 would amend Section 49-307, Idaho Code, to say that if parents provide driver’s training for their children, government will treat it as equivalent to driver’s training programs offered through public schools. Most parents and legal guardians could take advantage of this change.

The bill would impose a number of requirements on parents and legal guardians. 

The parent or legal guardian must possess "a valid Idaho driver's license that permits unaccompanied driving" and have not had "a license suspended, revoked, or canceled" or been "disqualified from holding an Idaho driver's license for the previous two (2) years." Additionally, the parent or legal guardian must be 21 or older. 

The driver’s training must include at least 92 hours over 6 months or longer, including at least 50 hours of "street or highway driving" and at least 10 hours of "driving after sunset or before sunrise."

"A qualifying parent or legal guardian who provides parent-student driver's training under this section shall maintain and submit a log to the county driver's license office at the completion of the student's training. The log shall include the dates the lessons were conducted and details regarding what was included in the lesson."

This provision could save parents money, particularly if they have to travel a significant distance to take their kids to driver’s training. It would also restore parents’ right to act as their children's primary driving instructors.

(+1)