——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Point of Impact Meeting
Dear Parent/Guardian,

Your son/daughter has either already completed the classroom portion of driver education or may be soon. The next step is to take the behind the wheel portion. After that is complete and he/she has had a drivers permit for a minimum of six months, and is at least 16 years old, he/she can take the driving exam to get a provisional driver’s license.

In 2015 the state of Minnesota added a new law regarding parent/guardian responsibilities concerning your son/daughter’s driving with a permit before testing for a driver’s license. Effective January 1, 2015, every driver under the age of 18 who completes behind the wheel instruction and is testing for a provisional driver’s license must submit a driving log. This log sheet can be found at:

https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/dvs/forms-documents/Documents/SupervisedDrivingLog.pdf

Parents/guardians have two options regarding the supervised driving log:

**Complete a supplemental parent class provided by a driver education program approved in Minnesota, and then submit a supervised driving log showing their teen has completed at least 40 hours (2,400 minutes) of supervised driving, 15 hours (900 minutes) of which are nighttime hours;

OR

**If the parent/guardian chooses to not complete the supplemental parent class, the driving log must show that their teen has completed at least 50 hours (3,000 minutes) of supervised driving, 15 hours (900 minutes) of which are nighttime hours.

Parents/guardians are encouraged to provide as many additional driving hours with their teen as possible to prepare them to become a safe driver. The driving log must be presented at the time of the road test and submitted with the application for the provisional license.

Blooming Prairie Public Schools will be offering the supplemental parent class to satisfy the new state law on on an annual basis, in February, at the high school, starting at 6:30 p.m. You must preregister for the class by calling the high school office at 583-4426, starting in January. A minimum of 10 need to be registered for the class, or it will not be held. The parent class is not mandatory, but offers information on the risks that novice drivers present. If you have questions, feel free to call David Pfiefer at 583-4426 and ask to leave a message, unless calling before 8:00 a.m. or after 3:00 p.m.

David Pfiefer, Chad Gimbel, & Darren Pauly
Licensed Driving Instructors

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

**Class Signup**
The next class will start in June, 2022, with another in late July. Any student age 14 or older who wants to take classroom driver education should pick up a sign-up sheet outside Mr. Pfiefer’s room (102) in May and return it into a separate folder outside his room.  

Driver education for students who are 14 to 17 will begin soon. Learning to drive is a major step in growing up, and whether parents are ready or not, their teenager has long been waiting for this time.  This is also, however, one of the most dangerous times of a child’s life.  Automobile crashes are the number one cause of death for teenagers.  Some parents might want to delay their child from driving for that very reason.  That, however, is not a reasonable solution to the problem.

Minnesota State law currently requires drivers under the age of 18 to go through 30 hours of classroom instruction followed by six hours of behind the wheel instruction.  All students under the age of 19 must hold a valid permit for a minimum of six months before testing for a driver’s license. This is only a minimum requirement. Parents are a vital link in the educational process of their teen.  They are the ones who have the greatest influence over what type of risk their teen is going to be exposed to.   It is the parents or guardians who must decide if their teenager is ready to take the wheel!