You asked if the safe driving practices course required for 16- and 17-year olds getting drivers’ licenses is a six-hour course with a course fee of $ 120. You also wanted to know how much of this fee is kept by the state and how much goes to the course provider. You also wanted to know how other states handle this type of training requirement and if the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) ever considered running these classes themselves with part-time or laid off employees.

SUMMARY

The safe driving practices training course required for 16- and 17-year olds getting drivers’ licenses is an eight-hour course for which the maximum fee that may be charged is $ 125, pursuant to DMV regulations. The state retains none of the fee. The entire fee goes to the entity conducting the course.

When it was first created by the legislature in 1989, the safe driving practices course had to be five hours and the maximum fee that could be charged was statutorily capped at $ 25. The cap was increased to $ 40 in 2002. The next year the legislature increased the course to eight hours and eliminated the statutory fee cap, instead requiring the DMV commissioner to set the maximum fee by regulation. During the regulation adoption process, DMV appears to have initially proposed an increase in the maximum fee to $ 90. However, the final regulations submitted to the legislature’s Regulations Review Committee for approval establish the maximum fee at $ 125.

DMV appears not to have considered providing the course through its own assets, either by current personnel or part-time or laid off employees, as an alternative to the existing outside outlets.

A separate free-standing training requirement of this type does not appear to be common among other states. We found only one other state, Florida, that has a similar program that is required by law. It is a four-hour course that the law requires for any new licensee who has not previously been licensed in another jurisdiction or completed a state-approved driver education course. The subjects the course must cover are similar to those required by Connecticut law, however, there are some differences in the two states’ statutory requirements. The Florida law specifies that the fee charged must bear a reasonable relationship to the actual cost of providing the course and requires financial audits of course providers, either by the state or by a certified public accountant paid for by the course provider.

The Florida course appears to be available either on-site or through the Internet. We found at least four course providers who make it available on-line. The fees charged by these four providers for the on-line course ranged from $ 26 to $ 35.

FEE HISTORY

Initial Course Requirements and Fee

The safe driving practices training course requirement was established by the legislature in 1989. At the time, it involved five hours of class instruction, including a minimum of two hours on the nature and the medical, biological, and psychological effects of alcohol and drugs and their impact on a driver, the dangers associated with driving after consuming alcohol or drugs, the problems of alcohol and drug abuse, and the penalties for alcohol and drug-related motor vehicle violations. Every 16- or 17-year old seeking a driver’s license must present the DMV commissioner with a certificate showing successful completion of the safe driving practices training course. The law established the maximum fee that could be charged for the five-hour course at $ 25.

The 16- and 17-year olds subject to the requirement generally satisfy it in one of two ways. They either receive it (1) as part of the 30-hours of classroom instruction required if they are receiving their driver’s training through either a DMV-licensed commercial drivers’ school or a high school drivers’ education program or (2) as a stand-alone course if they are getting their driver’s training from a parent, guardian, or other qualified adult under home training certification. If being home trained, the adult providing the training cannot provide the safe driving practices training. It must come through one of the established courses, usually through a commercial drivers’ training school.

The legislature increased the fee cap for the five-hour course from $ 25 to $ 40 in 2002, effective July 1, 2002. However, in 2003, it increased the course requirements from five to eight hours with four, rather than two hours devoted to alcohol and drug issues relating to driving. At the same time, the legislature eliminated any statutory cap on the fee and required the DMV commissioner to determine the maximum fee that could be charged for the stand-alone course by regulation.

DMV has statutory authority to regulate only the eight-hour safe driving practices course fee when it is provided on a stand-alone basis. It does not regulate either the overall charges of commercial driving schools for various aspects of the training they provide or the eight-hour course component when it is provided as part of the 30-hour classroom requirement. Driving schools must file a list of their charges with DMV but it does not approve or disapprove them.

Commercial driving school fees for the basic training package (30 hours classroom/8 hours behind-the-wheel) vary. Fees typically range from $ 385 to $ 600, depending on the school. Some schools charge by the item while others provide package prices. However, the 30-hour classroom training typically includes the eight-hour safe driving practices module within the overall course fee.

DMV published a notice of intent to amend the regulations to implement the legislative changes to the safe driving practices course in the Connecticut Law Journal in October 14, 2003 and held a public hearing on the proposed regulations on October 30, 2003. DMV’s initial proposal for the maximum course fee in the draft regulations was $ 90. At the public hearing, DMV took testimony from 11 owners or representatives of commercial driving schools, three of whom testified with respect to the proposed fee. The regulations DMV submitted for approval by the legislature’s Regulations Review Committee provided for a maximum fee of $ 125.

COMPARISON TO OTHER STATES

A statutory requirement for a special training component such as Connecticut requires does not appear to be all that common in other states. In fact, the only other state we found that seems to have a similar statutory requirement for this type of special training was Florida. In a number of states, driver education is mandatory for 16- and 17-year olds, that is, home training is not an option. In these states, it may be possible that their driver education curriculum provides similar training, much as Connecticut requires it to be included in the curriculum taught in the 30 hours of classroom training drivers’ education and commercial driving school programs provide.

Florida was the only other state we could find where every 16- or 17-year old must complete a special program regardless of whether he receives formal or informal classroom and behind-the-wheel training. Florida law requires applicants for a new license to complete a four-hour traffic law and substance abuse education training course prior to licensure. The course must provide instruction on the physiological and psychological consequences of the abuse of alcohol and other drugs, the societal and economic costs of alcohol and drug abuse, the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on a driver, and Florida laws relating to driving a motor vehicle. The course must be provided by state-certified instructors (F. S. 322. 095).

Course providers must offer it at locations reasonably accessible to most applicants. The fee for the course “must bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of the course. ” The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles must conduct financial audits of course providers or cause them to be conducted by a certified public accountant at the expense of the course provider. Course providers must collect a $ 3 assessment fee in addition to the normal enrollment fee and must forward the $ 3 fee to the state.

The course requirement does not apply to anyone who has previously been licensed in another jurisdiction or who has satisfactorily completed a state-approved driver education course.

The course appears to be available both on-site and via the Internet. We found at least four Internet sites of course providers who provide the course on-line. The fee for the on-line course offering ranged from $ 26 to $ 35 on these sites.

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