Students enrolled in driver’s education programs can finish their training in the summer or fall, the State Education Department said Wednesday.
Under normal conditions, a driver and traffic safety education course must provide each student with a minimum of 24 hours of classroom instruction and a minimum of 24 hours of laboratory instruction for an MV-285 Certificate of Completion of Driver Education Course. Lab instruction must include six hours behind the wheel, six hours of in-car observation, and 12 hours of additional laboratory instruction. However, because of the shutdown of school because of the coronavirus epidemic, “SED recognizes the complexities of responding to the COVID-19 emergency,” the guidance states.
Also:
- Students who have completed 18 hours or more of classroom instruction may use online learning to meet the 24-hour requirements for classroom instruction. Students must not engage in more than 90 minutes of such instruction per day.
- It is within the discretion of driver and traffic safety instructors to issue an MV-278 Pre-Licensing Course Completion Certificate to any student that has completed the required syllabus as described in the instructor’s manual.
The MV-278 certificate enables students to schedule DMV road tests. Prior to a student taking a road test, a parent must certify that the student has completed 50 hours of supervised driving. Driving hours with a school instructor and/or private instructor can be combined with parent-supervised hours to reach the required 50 hours.