Parent Letter

Dear Parent/Guardian, The State of Wyoming now requires that students go through a drivers education course to receive full driving privileges at the age of 16 1/2 years of age. If the student does not do both the classroom and driving part of the course with the instructor then the student must wait until age 17 to receive full driving privileges. The District requires the kids to do the classroom part but not the driving part which is 6 hours behind the wheel driving and 6 hours of observation time. Although it is not required we would still like to encourage the students to do this if their parents feel that it is needed. Some advantages to having them do the driving would be the following: 1. Statistics show that teenage accidents go down by 50% with just 6 hours behind the wheel or driving 300 miles. 2. Insurance rates can be much lower the student does the driving part of the class with a certified instructor – you will need to check with your insurance company about how much difference it would actually make. Insurance rates don’t go down until the student reaches the age of 25. 3. It should help them to become a safer driver. Statistics show that there are about 50,000 deaths/year due to car accidents; nearly 50% of those are alcohol related. 4. Wyoming has one of the highest rates for deaths for miles driven in the US. It is also only one of the few states that does not require a stringent driving course before receiving a drivers license. 5. Teenagers make up only 7% of the driving population in the US but they account for 14% of all the traffic fatalities (almost 7,000 of the 50,000 deaths/year). If you choose to have your student do the driving as part of the driver’s education course they will need to do the following: 1. Get their drivers permit – go to the DMV, go with parent or guardian, take their birth certificate and Social Security Number and take the test. 2. Take their permit to the school office and pay a $100.00 fee to the secretary. She will give them a receipt to give to the Drivers Education instructor. This fee can be offset by the lower insurance premiums within a relatively short period of time. The students could be paying a higher premium until age 25 unless they do the driving. Again, please check with your insurance company. 3. Students will be driven in the order they signed up. 4. We would like to drive as many as possible during the summer, so if you want your student to drive please get the money to the school as soon as possible. 5. If it is a financial issue for you on whether or not you have your student drive please contact Mrs. Harris in the main office to see if there can be compensation made in some way. We want all of the students to have the experience if they choose to do the driving.

Thank you for your consideration concerning this matter. Sincerely,

Mrs. Smith Star Valley High School Drivers Education Instructor