All New Drivers in Connecticut Will Soon Need a Learners' Permit

A Press Release from Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles

As of January 1, new adult drivers 18 and older will be required to hold a three-month learner's permit before taking a road test for a driver's license, the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced yesterday.

The new requirement changes 106 years of DMV history in which an adult had no required training period to complete prior to obtaining a driver's license. Highway safety issues, including the need to better understand how to operate a vehicle, and learning through practice driving prompted the need now for this requirement.

"Cars are more sophisticated today, traveling roads can be more dangerous for inexperienced drivers  and some form of a learning period is required now for those over 18, just as we have done for those under 18," said DMV Commissioner Melody A. Currey who made the announcement with transportation safety advocates at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford.

DMV expects that more than 30,000 people annually will be affected by this change. These include teens who delayed licensing to avoid the state's restrictions on 16 and 17-year-old drivers. The 18 and 19 year-olds this year account for about 11,000 who will need a learner's permit as an adult.

"There is more license delay than there used to be, so there are more novices 18 and older, and they are vulnerable during the learner period," said Allan F. Williams, an authority on driving safety and an associate of Preusser Research Group in Trumbull, which does safety studies for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Highlights of the new requirement:

• Beginning January 1, 2013, the state will require an adult learner's permit for new drivers who are 18 years old and over. This will not be required of those holding a valid driver's license from another state.
• The adult learner's permit must be held a minimum of 90 days prior to taking a road test.
• Applicants will get the adult learner permit when they pass the 25-question knowledge test and vision test.
• They will be required under state law to take the current eight-hour safe driving practices course at driving school. Passed in 2008, the law mandates that new first-time license holders must attend this course at a driving school. The cost is set by state law at $125.
• While holding the adult learner's permit, they will need to have a qualified trainer who is either a licensed driving instructor or another driver who is over 20-years-old who has held a license for four or more consecutive years and has not been suspended at any time in the last four years in the vehicle with them.
• Anyone over 18 who has taken the 25-question knowledge test prior to January 1, 2013, will have until April 1 to obtain a license and will not need to get a learner's permit.
• Until April 1, any adult receiving on-the-road training with a licensed driving instructor does not need an adult learner's permit.

While many states offer some version of a learner's permit for adults, Connecticut will be among a few that require it. Safety experts applaud Connecticut's step toward having a required driving practice period for adults.

"Learning to drive is a complex, challenging task and having an experienced driver along for the first 3 months will help promote safety. That is why I support this critically important adult learner permit program being implemented by our Department of Motor Vehicles," said Garry Lapidus, Director of the Injury Prevention Center at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and Hartford Hospital.

Dr. David S. Shapiro, trauma surgeon at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center and researcher in crash prevention, added, "Automobile collisions are frequent causes of injuries—both mild and severe—we see every day in our trauma centers. The addition of an adult learners permit can help to add confidence and safety to the inexperienced but mature driver."

The new law also carries a safety benefit for the teens who may try to avoid restrictions required at an earlier age, said Dr. Brendan Campbell, Medical Director of the Pediatric Trauma Program at Connecticut Children's.

"These new requirements are an important step in protecting the teen drivers who may be skirting the teen driving restrictions by waiting until after their 18th birthday to obtain their license. Now they will be required to obtain additional driving experience under conditions of lower crash risk," Dr. Campbell said.