STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7234
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to driver
education
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 507 of the vehicle and traffic
2 law, as separately amended by chapters 229 and 230 of the laws of 2020,
3 is amended to read as follows:
4 1. Driver education. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
5 article, a class D or class M license, whichever is appropriate, may be
6 issued to a minor seventeen years of age who has successfully completed
7 a driver education course approved by the state education department and
8 the commissioner in a high school or college or approved by the commis-
9 sioner for a course at a licensed New York state driving school and who
10 has submitted proof of completion of the minimum hours of supervised
11 driving as required in paragraph (d) of subdivision two of section five
12 hundred two of this article; provided however, the Yeshiva of Staten
13 Island, which operates as a high school, may provide driver education
14 courses at the Arthur Kill Road Jewish Community Center of Staten Island
15 and the Manor Road Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, located in
16 the county of Richmond; provided however, the Hebrew Academy of Nassau
17 County, a unified school that operates a high school, may provide a
18 driver education course approved by the state education department in a
19 middle school or elementary school location provided such course
20 instruction occurs when elementary or middle school is not in session.
21 No such driver education course may be approved unless classroom train-
22 ing is provided by a person approved by the state education department
23 and the commissioner. However, a school district may contract with one
24 or more licensed drivers' schools to provide behind the wheel training,
25 pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner. The commission-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11562-01-3
S. 7234 2
1 er shall prescribe the requirements for licensing of such minors. A
2 student enrolled in such an approved driver education course may operate
3 a motor vehicle without holding a driver's license or a learner's permit
4 while under the immediate supervision of an instructor in such course or
5 a driver's school instructor providing behind the wheel training in such
6 a course, provided such operation is in accordance with the rules estab-
7 lished by the commissioner. Every student who successfully completes
8 such course in a day, evening or summer school program offered by a
9 public or private school shall receive certification of such completion
10 on a certificate prescribed by the commissioner.
11 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
