SB 23-011

Senate Bill 23-011, also known as Minor Driver's Education Requirements, aims to enhance driver safety by requiring all minors under the age of 18 to complete a 30-hour driver education course and get at least six hours of behind-the-wheel training with a certified instructor or more if they live in rural areas. For those aged 18 to 20, it mandates a four-hour prequalification awareness program. The bill also introduces tax credits for families who pay for these courses, up to $1,000 per student over ten years. This legislation has been signed into law and will affect how young drivers are trained and licensed in Colorado.

Official Summary

Transportation Legislation Review Committee. For 10 income tax years, section 1 of the bill creates a refundable income tax credit for purchasing driver education and training for a minor. The amount of the credit is the amount spent on driver education and training, but cannot exceed $1,000 per student. To claim a credit, an individual must provide the department of revenue (department) with a receipt for the amount paid if the department requests the receipt. Currently, a minor who is under 18 years of age may be issued a driver's license or temporary driver's license if the minor has held an instruction permit for 12 months and has completed 50 hours of supervised driving, including 10 hours of night driving. Section 2 adds the requirements that the applicant must: Complete a 30-hour driver education course, which may include an online course, approved by the department; and Receive at least 6 hours of behind-the-wheel driving training with a driving instructor or, for minors who live in rural areas of the state, 12 hours of behind-the-wheel training with a parent, a legal guardian, or an alternate permit supervisor. Additionally, section 2 eliminates the current instructional requirements for minors under 16 and one-half years of age to hold an instruction permit for 12 months, complete 50 hours of supervised driving, including 10 hours of night driving, and receive 6 hours of behind-the-wheel driving training with a driving instructor or, if the minor lives more than 30 miles from a business offering driving instruction, at least 12 hours of training from a parent, legal guardian, or responsible adult to be eligible for issuance of a driver's license. Section 2 also adds a requirement that a minor who is 18 years of age or older and under 21 years of age must successfully complete a 4-hour prequalification driver awareness program approved by the department to be issued a driver's license or temporary driver's license. Current law authorizes the department to issue an instruction permit to a minor if the minor meets one of the following conditions: A minor who is 16 years of age or older need not complete a driver education course; A minor who is at least 15 and one-half years of age but under 16 years of age must have completed a driver education course or a 4-hour driver awareness course; or A minor who is 15 years of age or older but under 15 and one-half years of age must have completed a driver education course. Sections 2 and 3 eliminate the tiered system and require all minors who are under 18 years of age to complete a 30-hour driver education course and minors who are 18 years of age or older but under 21 years of age to complete a 4-hour driver awareness course. Section 5 prohibits a person who has been convicted of certain violent or sexual crimes from providing behind-the-wheel driving instruction to minors. A commercial driving school is prohibited from employing such a driving instructor to provide behind-the-wheel driving instruction to minors. Each instructor employed by a commercial driving school must obtain a fingerprint-based criminal history record check to verify that the instructor has not committed a disqualifying crime.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)