A while ago, Steve had put up a post on HB 1440:
In New Hampshire, Parents are not recognized, by themselves, as adequate driving instructors for children under age 18. State law requires new instruction through a certified drivers Ed course. As is the case in any such arrangement, the price for this instruction is not cheap, not even through the public school system. While I would personally do away with any state mandate altogether, and let the insurance market alone incentivize optional professional instruction, that may be too big a leap to take just yet. So HB 1440 takes a step in the right direction, and would offer parents cheaper alternatives to the current mandates…HB 1440 adds certified on-line instruction courses, in conjunction with hands on help from a licensed adult, as another option for licensing new drivers under 18 years of age. There is a public hearing for this legislation on Tuesday, January 31st in room 203 of the Legislative Office Building (LOB), at 1:30 pm.
Well, I was contacted by one of the co-sponsors last weekend, NH State Rep Laura Jones and asked if I wanted to know a bit more about the bill. Well, Laura has been on GrokTALK! before and was a great guest, so I certainly said sure! She also asked if a young lady, Jacqueline Roland (who turned out to be a prime mover on the bill), could come along for the interview.
You can download the MP3 files here: Part 1 Part 2 Or listen to it online:
Part 1:
Part 2:
The text of the bill can be found here (docket here, roll call here). Also, Jacqueline Roland has created a website for the bill for more information: NH Driver Ed Bill!