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Parent Information
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Students must complete a minimum of 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction with a driver education instructor.
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By state law, students are to have 50 hours of practice driving supervised by a parent or an adult age 21 or older with a valid driver's license. Of the required 50 hours of practice driving, 10 hours must be night driving. You must document this practice driving on a record sheet and turn it in at the time of license attainment. You can get a record sheet from a driver education instructor.
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Even after receiving their license, some teens are not prepared for driving on their own. Only you can decide when your teen is ready to drive without adult supervision. While they're learning, you can help keep them safe by setting rules about when, where, how and with whom they may drive.
- Put a limit on the number of passengers in the car. Teens are likely to have more trouble focusing on the road with laughter, music, food and other distractions, all of which increase with the number of passengers.
- Establish and enforce a house curfew. Check with your local police department to see if your town has a curfew for minors. If not, set your own.
- Insist that your teen and his or her passengers always use seat belts. Teens tend to use their seat belts less often than other drivers. Remind your teen that the presnece of airbags does not mean he or she can ignore seat belts.
- Make sure your teen keeps the cell phone turned off. Teens may love talking on the phone, but doing it while driving is a dangerous distraction, and in more and more places, it may be illegal.
- Limit or supervise your teen's driving during times of high risk. The highest number of driving crashes occur Friday and Saturday nights and early on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
- Set driving area limits. If your teen wants to travel outside your town or city, require that he or she request special permission.
- Prohibit driving or riding with others under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In addition to the possibility of legal consequences, tell your teen you will revoke driving priveleges for a given amount of time.