81R1495 TRH/EAH-D
By: Phillips H.B. No. 339
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to driver education and driver's licensing requirements
for minors.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.902, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A school district shall offer a driver education and
traffic safety course during each school year. The district may
charge a fee for the course in the amount determined by the agency
to be comparable to the fee charged by commercial driving schools.
SECTION 2. Section 1001.101, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 1001.101. DRIVER EDUCATION COURSE CURRICULUM AND
TEXTBOOKS. (a) The commissioner by rule shall establish the
curriculum and designate the textbooks to be used in a driver
education course.
(b) A driver education course for a student who is under 18
years of age must require the student to complete 34 hours of
behind-the-wheel instruction, including at least 10 hours of
instruction that takes place at night.
(c) The commissioner by rule shall determine the number of
hours of behind-the-wheel instruction required under Subsection
(b) to be conducted in the presence of a licensed instructor or in
the presence of an adult who meets the requirements of Section
521.222(d)(2), Transportation Code.
SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 1001, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 1001.257 to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.257. DENIAL OF LICENSE. The commissioner may not
issue or renew a driver education instructor license, including a
temporary license, to a person who has six or more points assigned
to the person's driver's license under Subchapter B, Chapter 708,
Transportation Code.
SECTION 4. Section 521.165, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), in [In] issuing a
driver's license for certain types of vehicles, the director may
waive a driving test for an applicant who has successfully
completed and passed the training and testing conducted by a person
certified under Subsection (a).
(d) The director may not waive the driving test required by
Section 521.161 for an applicant who is under 18 years of age.
SECTION 5. Section 521.205(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The department by rule shall provide for approval of a
driver education course conducted by the parent, stepparent, legal
guardian, step-grandparent, or grandparent of a person who is
required to complete a driver education course to obtain a Class C
license. The rules must provide that:
(1) the person conducting the course possess a valid
license for the preceding three years that [and the license] has not
been suspended, revoked, or forfeited in the past three years for an
offense that involves the operation of a motor vehicle [traffic
related violations];
(2) the student driver spend a minimum number of hours
in:
(A) classroom instruction; and
(B) behind-the-wheel instruction;
(3) the person conducting the course not be convicted
of:
(A) criminally negligent homicide; or
(B) driving while intoxicated; [and]
(4) the person conducting the course not be disabled
because of mental illness; and
(5) the person conducting the course not have six or
more points assigned to the person's driver's license under
Subchapter B, Chapter 708.
SECTION 6. Subchapter J, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 521.206 to read as follows:
Sec. 521.206. COLLISION RATE STATISTICS PUBLICATION. (a)
The department shall collect data regarding collisions of students
taught by public schools, commercial driving schools, and other
entities that offer driver education courses to students for which
a uniform certificate of course completion is issued. The
collision rate is computed by determining the number of an entity's
students who complete a driver education course during a state
fiscal year, dividing that number by the number of collisions that
involved students who completed such a course and that occurred in
the 12-month period following their licensure, and expressing the
quotient as a percentage.
(b) The department shall collect data regarding the
collision rate of students taught by course instructors approved
under Section 521.205. The collision rate is computed by
determining the number of students who completed a course approved
under Section 521.205 during a state fiscal year, dividing that
number by the number of collisions that involved students who
completed such a course and that occurred in the 12-month period
following their licensure, and expressing the quotient as a
percentage.
(c) Not later than October 1 of each year, the department
shall issue a publication listing the collision rate for students
taught by each driver education entity and the collision rate for
students taught by a course instructor approved under Section
521.205, noting the severity of collisions involving students of
each entity and each type of course.
SECTION 7. Sections 545.424(a) and (b), Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person under 18 years of age[, during the six-month
period following issuance of an original Class A, B, or C driver's
license to the person,] may not operate a motor vehicle:
(1) during the 12-month period following issuance of
an original Class A, B, or C driver's license to the person:
(A) after 10 p.m. [midnight] and before 5 a.m.
unless the operation of the vehicle is necessary for the operator to
attend or participate in employment or a school-related activity or
because of a medical emergency; or
(B) [(2)] with more than one passenger in the
vehicle under 21 years of age who is not a family member; or
(2) [(3)] while using a wireless communications
device.
(b) A person under 17 years of age who holds a restricted
motorcycle license or moped license, during the 12-month
[six-month] period following the issuance of an original motorcycle
license or moped license to the person, may not operate a motorcycle
or moped:
(1) after 10 p.m. [midnight] and before 5 a.m. unless:
(A) the person is in sight of the person's parent
or guardian; or
(B) the operation of the vehicle is necessary for
the operator to attend or participate in employment or a
school-related activity or because of a medical emergency; or
(2) while using a wireless communications device.
SECTION 8. (a) For the purpose of compiling data for the
publication required by Section 521.206, Transportation Code, as
added by this Act, the Texas Department of Public Safety shall
determine the number of minor students taught by each driver
education entity and the total number of minor students taught by
courses approved under Section 521.205, Transportation Code, who
become licensed during the state fiscal year beginning September 1,
2009, and ending August 31, 2010.
(b) The first publication of collision rate data compiled
under Section 521.206, Transportation Code, as added by this Act,
shall be issued not later than October 1, 2011.
SECTION 9. Not later than November 30, 2009, the Texas
Department of Public Safety shall appoint a task force to review and
make recommendations regarding the effectiveness of the materials
provided by the Texas Education Agency for use in courses licensed
under Chapter 1001, Education Code, or authorized by Section
521.205. The task force shall consist of the following members:
(1) a representative of the Texas Department of Public
Safety;
(2) a representative of the Texas Education Agency;
(3) a commercial provider of driver education courses;
(4) a member of an interested group or association, as
determined by the department; and
(5) other appropriate members, as determined by the
department.
SECTION 10. (a) Section 29.902(c), Education Code, as
added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2010-2011 school
year.
(b) Section 1001.101, Education Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a driver education and training program
approved by the Texas Education Agency on or after the effective
date of this Act. A program approved by the Texas Education Agency
before the effective date of this Act is subject to the law in
effect on the date the program was approved, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(c) Section 1001.257, Education Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a person issued a license or approved to teach a
driver education course on or after the effective date of this Act.
A person issued a license or approved to teach a driver education
course before the effective date of this Act is subject to the law
in effect on the date the license was issued, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(d) Section 521.165, Transportation Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to an application for a driver's license
submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. An
application for a driver's license submitted before the effective
date of this Act is subject to the law in effect on the date the
application was submitted, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
(e) The changes in law made by this Act to Section 521.205,
Transportation Code, apply to a course approved under that section
that begins on or after the effective date of this Act. A course
beginning before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the course was commenced, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(f) The changes in law made by this Act to Section 545.424,
Transportation Code, apply only to a person issued a driver's
license on or after the effective date of this Act. A person issued
a driver's license before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date the license was issued, and that law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.