HLS 17RS-1041 ENGROSSED
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 437
BY REPRESENTATIVE WHITE
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
MOTOR VEHICLES: Authorizes an alternative method of instruction for the classroom
portion of approved prelicensing training courses
1 AN ACT
2To enact R.S. 32:402.1(B), relative to the classroom instruction portion of an approved
3 driver education prelicensing training course; to authorize the classroom portion of
4 a prelicensing training course to be provided by alternative methods of instruction;
5 to establish approval requirements for the alternative method of instruction; to
6 prohibit any portion of the classroom instruction of the driver education course for
7 persons under the age of eighteen to be provided by alternative methods; to authorize
8 the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services, to establish
9 rules and regulations as determined necessary to define requirements; and to provide
10 for related matters.
11Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
12 Section 1. R.S. 32:402.1(B) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
13 ยง402.1. Driver education; required
14 * * *
15 B.(1) A driver education provider licensed pursuant to R.S. 40:1461 may
16 provide all or part of the six-hour classroom instruction portion of an approved
17 prelicensing training course required by Paragraph (A)(2) of this Section for persons
18 eighteen or older by an alternative method of instruction that does not require
19 students to be present in a traditional classroom if the Department of Public Safety
20 and Corrections, public safety services, approves the alternative method. The
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HB NO. 437
1 Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services, may approve
2 the alternative method only if both of the following conditions are met:
3 (a) The alternative method includes testing and security measures that the
4 department determines are at least as secure as the measures available in the
5 traditional classroom setting.
6 (b) The six-hour classroom instruction portion of the prelicensing training
7 course for persons eighteen years of age or older that is required by Paragraph (A)(2)
8 of this Secion, with the use of the alternative method, satisfies any other requirement
9 applicable to a prelicensing training course in which the classroom instruction is
10 taught to students in the traditional classroom setting.
11 (2) No portion of the thirty-hour classroom instruction of the driver
12 education course, required by Paragraph (A)(1) of this Section, for persons under the
13 age of eighteen shall be provided by an alternative method of instruction that does
14 not require students to be present in a traditional classroom.
15 (3) The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services,
16 may establish rules and regulations as determined necessary to define the
17 requirements for alternative methods of instruction for the prelicensing training
18 course.
19 * * *
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 437 Engrossed 2017 Regular Session White
Abstract: Creates an alternative method of instruction for all or part of the classroom
instruction portion of an approved prelicensing training course.
Present law specifies that no application for a license for the operation of a motor vehicle
can be received from any person making application for the first time unless there is also
submitted with the application, on a form approved by the secretary of the Dept. of Public
Safety and Corrections, public safety services, written evidence of the successful completion
by the applicant of a driver education course or a prelicensing training course.
Proposed law authorizes a driver education provider to provide all or part of the six-hour
classroom instruction portion of an approved prelicensing training course by an alternative
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HB NO. 437
method of instruction that does not require students to be present in a traditional classroom,
subject to approval by the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services.
Proposed law authorizes the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services
to approve the alternative method if it includes testing and security measures that are at least
as secure as the measures available in the traditional classroom setting and use of the
alternative method satisfies any other requirement applicable to a prelicensing training
course taught in the traditional classroom setting.
Proposed law prohibits any portion of the 30-hour classroom instruction of the driver
education course, required by present law, from being offered in any setting other than a
traditional classroom to persons under the age of 18.
Proposed law authorizes the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services,
to establish rules and regulations necessary to define the requirements for alternative
methods of instruction for prelicensing training courses.
(Adds R.S. 32:402.1(B))
Summary of Amendments Adopted by House
The Committee Amendments Proposed by House Committee on Transportation,
Highways and Public Works to the original bill:
1. Make technical changes.
2. Clarify that the classroom instruction portion of the prelicensing training course
is six hours and is available to those persons 18 years of age or older.
3. Prohibit persons under the age of 18 from participating in the alternative method
of instruction that does not require students to be present in a traditional
classroom.
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.