HF3988 (Legislative Session 94 (2025-2026))
Persons under 21 years of age required to complete driver education course before obtaining a driver's license.
Related bill: SF4435
AI Generated Summary
Purpose
This bill changes who can get a Minnesota driver’s license by requiring driver education for people under 21 before licensing. It also tightens rules about who qualifies to obtain or keep a license, especially for teens, and adds specific supervision, permit, and testing requirements to improve driving safety.
Main Provisions
- Driver education requirement for under 21
- Anyone under 21 must complete a driver education program that includes classroom instruction and behind-the-wheel training before getting a license.
- Under-18 eligibility and qualifications
- A person 16 or 17 can’t get a license unless they have a previously issued valid license from another state or country, or they have held a provisional license for 12 consecutive months with limited violations.
- While meeting eligibility, the applicant’s approvals come from a parent or guardian (or other approved caregiver or adult), with verification of age and identity.
- The applicant must have driven with a licensed driver at least 21 years old for at least 10 hours during the provisional period.
- Permit and provisional licensing timelines
- For those under 18: at least 6 months with an instruction permit and at least 12 months with a provisional license.
- For those 19 and older: at least 3 months with the instruction permit before applying for a license.
- General eligibility restrictions and exam requirements
- A license cannot be issued to drug-dependent individuals, someone adjudged legally incompetent, or someone who hasn’t passed required vision, knowledge, or road tests.
- If a road test is failed four times, the applicant must complete at least six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction with an approved instructor before retesting.
- Licenses cannot be issued to individuals with certain medical or reading limitations that would impair safe driving, or who are subject to court-denied driving privileges.
- If a person’s license has been suspended or revoked, specific financial-responsibility requirements and other protections apply to reinstatement.
- Other grounds and safety considerations
- The agency may deny licenses if it believes licensing would be inimical to public safety or welfare.
- There are provisions regarding proof of financial responsibility in line with related insurance laws for certain actions (suspensions/revocations).
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Adds a mandatory driver education requirement for all applicants under 21 before licensure.
- Expands teen-driver safeguards, including longer permit and provisional periods for under-18s, and a mandatory 10-hour supervised driving requirement under a licensed driver aged 21+ during provisional licensure.
- Tightens eligibility criteria for under-18 drivers (crashes and moving-violation limits) and requires parental/guardian oversight and verification.
- Increases consequences for road-test failures (six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction after four failed tests) and strengthens testing requirements (vision, knowledge, and road exams).
- Broadens grounds for denial, suspension, and revocation, including mental or physical impairments and inability to read traffic signs, with alignment to insurance-related financial-responsibility requirements.
Relevant Terms driver education; behind-the-wheel training; instruction permit; provisional license; license eligibility; under 21; under 18; parental approval; guardian; licensed driver 21+; supervised driving; 10 hours; road test; road tests; vision test; knowledge test; financial responsibility; No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act; suspended license; revoked license; drug-dependent; mentally incompetent; traffic signs; moving violation; crash-related moving violation; school or classroom instruction; six hours behind-the-wheel instruction; safety.
Bill text versions
- Introduction PDF PDF file
Actions
| Date | Chamber | Where | Type | Name | Committee Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 05, 2026 | House | Action | Introduction and first reading, referred to | Transportation Finance and Policy |
Citations
[
{
"analysis": {
"added": [
"Requires completion of a driver education program (classroom and behind-the-wheel) for applicants under 21.",
"Adds supervision and age-verification requirements for license approvals.",
"Incorporates minimum behind-the-wheel instruction hours and supervision prerequisites prior to road testing for youth."
],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Amends Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 171.04, subdivision 1 to require persons under 21 to complete a driver education course before obtaining a driver's license. The amended subdivision maintains existing eligibility constraints for younger applicants but adds explicit driver education and behind-the-wheel training requirements and supervision provisions for license issuance.",
"modified": [
"Expands licensing prerequisites by tying eligibility to driver education completion for those under 21.",
"Maintains existing criteria related to convictions and driving history for teen applicants."
]
},
"citation": "171.04",
"subdivision": "subd. 1"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Cited in the bill as part of the disqualification criteria related to driving offenses for teen licensing; the bill does not itself modify section 169A.20.",
"modified": [
"Not a direct change; used to determine eligibility for under-21 licensing within the proposed framework."
]
},
"citation": "169A.20",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Cited in the bill as part of the disqualification criteria related to driving offenses for teen licensing; no direct changes to section 169A.33 are shown in the text.",
"modified": [
"Referenced to inform license eligibility under 171.04; no textual amendments to 169A.33 appear in the bill excerpt."
]
},
"citation": "169A.33",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Cited in the bill as part of the disqualification criteria related to driving offenses for teen licensing; no direct changes to section 169A.35 are shown in the text.",
"modified": [
"Referenced to inform license eligibility under 171.04; no textual amendments to 169A.35 appear in the bill excerpt."
]
},
"citation": "169A.35",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Cited as part of the disqualification framework for teen licensing; the text uses these sections to constrain license eligibility but does not itself amend 169A.50–169A.53.",
"modified": [
"No direct amendments to 169A.50 through 169A.53; they are referenced to define eligibility conditions under the teen licensing provisions."
]
},
"citation": "169A.50 to 169A.53",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Cited in the bill in connection with teen licensing provisions; no direct amendment to section 171.177 is shown in the excerpt.",
"modified": [
"Referenced to establish license eligibility criteria; no textual changes to 171.177 appear in the provided text."
]
},
"citation": "171.177",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "The No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act is cited as the basis for the 'proof of financial responsibility' requirement in the context of license status; the bill does not modify the Act itself.",
"modified": [
"No direct amendments to the No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act are shown; it is used for the standard of financial responsibility referenced in the bill."
]
},
"citation": "Minnesota NoFault Automobile Insurance Act",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "The bill references Minnesota Statutes 260C.201, subdivision 1 in connection with denial of driving privileges under court orders or other circumstances; there is no explicit amendment to 260C.201 in the excerpt.",
"modified": [
"No direct modifications to 260C.201 subd. 1; it is cited to describe grounds for suspension/denial within the teen-licensing framework."
]
},
"citation": "260C.201",
"subdivision": "subd. 1"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "The bill references Minnesota Statutes 260B.235, subdivision 5 as part of the grounds for denial of driving privileges under custodial or related orders; no explicit amendment to 260B.235 is shown in the excerpt.",
"modified": [
"No direct amendments to 260B.235 subd. 5; it is cited as a mechanism for denial of privileges in the licensing framework."
]
},
"citation": "260B.235",
"subdivision": "subd. 5"
}
]Progress through the legislative process
In Committee