This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Legislators are rethinking whether they were wise two years ago to stop requiring anyone older than age 18 to take a driver's education course to obtain a license.
The House Transportation Committee on Tuesday recommended that the Legislature study the matter over the coming year, and tabled for now HB359 — which would have required such training for anyone through age 24.
"Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for young people ages 19 to 24, and most of these auto accidents are preventable," said Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, sponsor of the bill.
He said national research shows "a significant number of teens were actually delaying licensure to age 18," when many states no longer require driver's education classes, "in order to avoid the driver's training licensure requirements."
He said the studies found that those who did that "had persistently higher accident rates for the 36 months following licensure."
His bill would also require driver's education for anyone, of any age, who moves here from another country and did not hold a license there. "We need people from foreign countries to receive a proper driver's education if they did not receive it in their home country."
Spendlove also seeks to remove a ban in current law from allowing driver's tests to be administered by the same schools or teachers who provided a driver's education class for an applicant.
— Lee Davidson