When to Start?

When to start is certainly a good question, and it is one that I get asked quite often.  The correct answer is “start early”, a lot earlier than you’d think.  I get calls from many parents whose teenage sons or daughters are about to turn 16 and they want to know when they should sign them up for driver’s ed.  Well the real answer to their question is “you’re probably too late already”.

With the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) rule that the students must hold their temps for six months, the fact that the classroom training takes about one month and the hectic schedules that many teens and their families keep these days, you had better start really early to plan for your teen’s driver’s education.  In fact, if you are reading this and your teen is any older than 15 years and 5 months, you had better sign them up right now if you want them to get their instruction permit (temps) by the age 16.  Sign Up Now

In today’s world with all of the after school activities that kids are involved in it can be a real challenge to get them into a class and to get all of the training done in time.  In time for what?  Well, that all depends.  Some parents are waiting for grades to improve before they allow their teen to get a driver’s license, some parents want them to get licensed as soon as possible so that they can help drive brothers and sisters around, and others just want the teen to stop asking when they can start driver’s ed so that they can get their license.  It all depends on the family and the teen, but many teens really want to get their license on the day they turn 16.

This is where the challenge begins.  Many people I talk to are already running behind simply because they thought their teen was still too young.  It seems that people don’t even think about driver’s ed until their child is approaching the age of 16.  Well, that could be a bit late.  The DOT requires that everyone holds their temps for six months, so if you want your teen to get their license when they turn 16, you will need to make sure that they finish their classroom training by the time they are 15 1/2 years old.  So, if the classroom training takes about one month, the absolute latest you should start is when your child is age 15 years and 5 months.  Then, add to the equation that your teen needs to have enough time in his or her busy schedule to actually attend the class and you may be in for big delays.

This is why the DOT allows your teen to start their driver’s education training as early as age 14 1/2.  I know that 14 1/2 years old seems really young to be considering driver’s education, but by starting at this age you have a full year in which to get the classroom training done.  Even the busiest of teens involved in multiple after school activities can usually find one month out of the year in which they can take their classroom training.  Since the DOT now allows students to get their temps as young as 15 years old, the correct answer is start planning before they even turn 14 1/2.  That way, you have a plenty of time to get your teen into a classroom and finished with that part of the training so that the day they turn 15 you can be at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with them to get their temps  Even though you may think that your teen is just to young to start their training at 14 1/2, they really seem to do just fine at that age and they won’t be behind the wheel until they are 15 anyway.

There is one DOT rule that can help you out if you have begun the process a bit late, but it involves some extra work on the teen’s part.  According to DOT law, the classroom training and behind the wheel training can be done concurrently as long as they are both being conducted by the same school.  What this means is that legally we can sign your MV3001 form that your teen needs to get their temps on the first day that your teen starts their classroom training.  This would allow your teen to get their temps at the beginning of class, rather than at the end.  This allows them to start the countdown on the six months that they are required to hold temps while they are taking the classroom training.  So, during the month that they are taking the classroom training you could have them already driving with you.  There is one catch to all of this.  We can give them the MV3001 form early, but they would still need to pass the signs and knowledge test at the DMV before they can get their temps.  In order to do that prior to even taking any training, they would need to study on their own so that they can pass the test.  To do this, they would need the Motorist’s Handbook.  Get The Handbook  They still need to sit through the entire 30 hours of classroom training, but at least they can get their temps a bit earlier.  This only really helps you if your teen is a good student, a quick study and is already 15 years old or darn close to it.

Having said all of that, regardless of how many teens are chomping at the bit to get their driver’s licenses, there are always a certain percentage that are not quite ready yet.  Teens mature at different rates and some need a few more months to grow up a bit.  This is fine, they can start their training whenever they are ready.  If your teen is very hesitant, seems scared and really doesn’t even want to talk about getting their license, then maybe it is a bit early to sign them up.  This is always a tough call for both the teen and the parent.  It is completely natural for both you and your teen to be nervous and a bit scared, the teen has likely never driven and you may have never driven with a teen.  I’d be worried if you weren’t a bit concerned.  The fact is that most teens do just fine behind the wheel and the classroom training prepares them well for this.  Even really nervous and hesitant teens often do really well once they get that first hour of behind the wheel training done.  I would like to caution you that if both you and your teen agree that they are not ready, don’t have them take the classroom training yet.  There is a DOT law that says that if teens don’t take their first behind the wheel lesson with a licensed instructor within 13 months of their classroom training then they need to take a refresher course.  This would be a waste of time and money.  If they are taking the classroom training, they should plan to start their behind the wheel training right away at age 15.