Minnesota lawmakers introduced a bill this month that would require new drivers under the age of 21 to take driver’s ed in a classroom, in addition to physical road tests, to get their licenses. If passed, the North Star State would be the fifth with such a restriction, joining Maryland and Texas, as well as Ohio and Washington, which passed similar laws just last year.
Currently in Minnesota, only new drivers under 18 are required to attend 30 hours of driver’s ed before getting a license. But a University of Nebraska-Lincoln study cited by the Minnesota Star Tribune suggests that drivers between 18 and 20 who receive classroom training are 75% less likely to get a ticket within their first two years on the road. Meanwhile, data from the Washington State Department of Licensing found that the likelihood of injuries and fatal crashes are 80% higher for young drivers in that same age group who don’t go through a driver’s ed program. For what it’s worth, that risk only dropped to 70% for drivers aged 21-24.
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