New drivers must see law’s intent

New+drivers+must+see+laws+intent

Minnesota legislators recently added extra supervised driving hours to the amount needed to earn a driver’s license.

Receiving a driver’s permit was once part of Park’s health curriculum. Students now have to sign up for a driver’s education class and stay after school for the program.

The class takes more time than when it was provided in school and students often have to miss sports or other extracurricular activities to take driver’s education after school hours.

The Minnesota law also extended the amount of hours of supervised driving.

Students earning their license are  required to log their 50 hours of supervised driving on an official sheet that will include their parent or guardian’s signature to attempt to regulate the completion of hours.

Without the sheet regulating drivers’ hours, teens can potentially receive their licenses if they lie about the hours they’ve driven or risk the consequence of miscalculating. Requiring a written log will add legitimacy and responsibility for new drivers.

Minnesota should be requiring more supervised driving hours and requiring drivers and their legal guardians to regulate and record  all driving hours.

New drivers will have plenty of supervised experience with less chance of incomplete hours, hopefully lowering car accident rates. Students will also be more aware of how their vehicle functions and have more time to ask questions about their car or road laws if an experienced driver is present in the car for longer.

Students need to take their driving preparation seriously for the added hours to be worthwhile. If students regulate and organize their driving hours, they will be earning their license while learning how to take control of their own skill education.

Extended hours allow extra opportunities for students to have supervised drives in the winter when ice and snow commonly cause crashes and car accidents with new drivers.

By logging hours carefully, working hard on improving their driving skills and understanding the responsibility of being able to drive a car, students will benefit and become safer and better drivers.

Minnesota’s new license regulations will help Minnesota roads become safer because of the longer road hours, the amount of preparation and the  organization it asks for from its drivers.