Bill Description: House Bill 531 would allow parents and legal guardians who live in a rural school district to provide on-road driver training for their children in lieu of formal driver's training. 

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NOTE: House Bill 531 shares some similarities with House Bill 133, introduced during the 2023 legislative session. House Bill 133 was a positive bill that would have restored parents' right to act as their children's primary driving instructor. This bill passed the Legislature but was inexplicably vetoed by the governor. House Bill 531 deals with a related concept, but it would allow parents to act as their children's primary driving instructors ONLY if "the parent or legal guardian and the student live in a rural school district as defined by section 33-319, Idaho Code, or in a school district that does not offer driver education courses." Additionally, students who were taught to drive by their parents under this carve-out would be required to "enroll and successfully complete the Idaho digital learning alliance driver education online class, which is aligned to the state department of education's driver education online content requirements."

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?

Although America has a long history — stretching back to the invention of the automobile — of parents and other family members teaching young people to drive, Idaho law now broadly prohibits this practice. It requires instead that young people receive formal driver training. This training is typically offered through or in conjunction with government schools, which provides a clue as to why the governor chose to veto House Bill 133 last year. 

House Bill 531 would amend Section 49-307, Idaho Code, to create a narrow carve-out to this reprehensible infringement on parental and individual rights. It would apply only to the small minority of Idaho families who "live in a rural school district as defined by section 33-319, Idaho Code, or in a school district that does not offer driver education courses."

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 "on-road driver’s training" must include at least 92 hours, conducted over 6 months or longer. It must include 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 on-road driver's training pursuant to this subsection 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."

The parent or legal guardian is also required to "teach the student the accepted Idaho driver's education curriculum." The student must "enroll and successfully complete the Idaho digital learning alliance driver education online class, which is aligned to the state department of education's driver education online content requirements."

This bill could benefit a small minority of Idaho families, but it fails to restore parental rights for most Idaho families or take any steps to dismantle the government monopoly on driver training. 

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