New Graduated Driver's License Program

You may notice the driver education car rolling the streets of Glasgow these days. In one month’s time, a fresh crop of drivers will be completing their trainings.

In 2006, the current Graduated Driver’s License Program went into effect. This law has a very different look and feel to it from the program that the parents of many of these teenagers completed. The Graduated Driver’s License, or GDL, is a three-step program. The first step is the TELL or Traffic Education Learner’s License. This is the license that students test for during their driver’s education training. Teens can receive this license at 14 ½ years of age with driver’s education or 16 years of age without the course. They must drive under this license for a minimum of six months and log 50 hours of supervised driving, 10 of which has to be at night. Seat-belts are mandatory for these drivers and their passengers and they must drive with a parent or approved adult. If these students receive any traffic or drug or alcohol citations during the learner’s license period, then the six months of supervision will start over.

The second step of this program is the GDL Restricted License. This portion is broken into two parts, with separate requirements over the course of one year. In the first six months, everyone is required to wear a seatbelt and curfew for an unsupervised driver is from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Darkness increases the risk of a crash so unsupervised night driving is restricted. The passengers are limited to only one who is not a family member, under the age of 18. In the second six months, there may be up to three non-family passengers under the age of 18, but the seatbelt and curfew rules remain the same. If a GDL holder violates the conditions of their license they will receive a minimum of 20 hours of community service for the first offense, up to 60 hours. Second and subsequent offenses may result in the suspension of a driver’s license for up to 6 months and no probationary license issued.

If, after the minimum 18 months of restricted driving, a young driver is citation free and able to pass the MVD exams, they can then receive their full privilege driver’s license.

The students who are currently in the Glasgow Driver’s Education program have been testing for the past month to receive their TELL. This means that they are at the very beginning of this graduated program. For the safety of everyone on the increasingly snowy streets of Glasgow, please be mindful of the legal restrictions for these young drivers and help them to make safe driving choices.