Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety - Comment

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 23 CFR Part 1200 Docket No. NHTSA-2012-0137 State Graduated Driver Licensing Incentive Grant The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety provides the following comments regarding the minimum qualification criteria for the State Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) Incentive Grant program authorized under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) Minimum Qualification Criteria Minnesota qualifies for the State Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) Incentive Grant program with the following exceptions: A. Under MAP–21, the State GDL system must include an intermediate stage that commences immediately after the expiration of the learner’s permit stage, is at least six months in duration, and remains in effect until the driver reaches 18 years of age. In Minnesota, the intermediate stage commences at age 16 and remains in effect until the license holder is at least 18 years of age or held an intermediate license for at least 12 consecutive months with no convictions for alcohol/controlled substance violations or crash-related moving violations, and with not more than one conviction for a moving violation that is not crash-related. B. MAP–21 identifies the following criteria for consideration to prescribe additional GDL requirements. During the learner’s permit stage, requiring (1) at least 40 hours of behind-the-wheel training with a licensed driver who is at least 21 years of age, (2) a driver training course, and (3) the driver to be accompanied and supervised by a licensed driver who is at least 21 years of age at all times while such driver is operating a motor vehicle. In Minnesota, the permit holder must complete at least 30 hours of supervised driving with a licensed driver who is at least 21 years of age, including a minimum of 10 hours of night driving. C. MAP–21 identifies the following criteria during the learner’s permit and intermediate stages to impose a