Save Lives on the Road: Reduce Course Hours for Driver Safety Classes

Reduce Course Hours for Driver Safety Classes

Time is running out for lawmakers to help make Minnesota roads safer for all drivers. They must hear a bill to increase participation in driver’s safety courses.

Driver’s safety courses help improve driving skills, reduce risky behaviors, and ultimately accidents. In Minnesota, drivers 55 and older can even get an auto insurance discount by participating in an eight-hour course. Unfortunately, participation numbers have declined in states that require an eight-hour course. Lawmakers have a chance to change this but they need to give the bill a hearing first.

Traffic fatalities have gone down in Minnesota but there's a concerning trend that can't be ignored. The number of fatalities among drivers aged 55 and older increased by 5%. Older drivers have a higher risk of accidents due to impairments that may arise with age. But there's a solution that has been proven to work - driver safety courses designed for drivers aged 50 and above.

Urge your lawmakers to make help make Minnesota roads safer by reducing drivers' safety course hours. Tell them to give the bill a hearing.

Happy African American woman in blue car.

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Subject Save Lives on the Road: Give SF 727/HF 4587 a Hearing

Dear Decision Maker,

As your constituent, I am writing to request your support for SF 727/HF 4587 authored by Sen. Nelson and Rep Bierman. This legislation aims to reduce the driver's safety course length from 8 to 4 hours to be eligible for Minnesota’s insurance discount without compromising the quality of the content.

This change will encourage more people to participate in these essential courses as participation numbers have declined in states requiring eight-hour courses. This means at-risk residents are not getting the information they need to be safer on the roads.

Currently, eighteen states allow a course length of four hours, and nine states already mandate insurance discounts for four-hour courses.

An independent study comparing the four- and eight-hour courses found that course length had no significant impact on the amount of knowledge drivers retained.

The same study found that drivers were equally as likely to change 19 safe driving behaviors for the better, whether they took the four-hour or the eight-hour course

Driving safely is a challenge for drivers of all ages. However, as the number of older drivers increases, traffic safety experts are concerned that the number of "at-risk" drivers will also increase.

In Minnesota, the total number of traffic fatalities has declined from the record high of 488 fatalities in 2021 to 444 deaths. However, the percentage of fatal crashes has increased from 34.5% to 39.2% for the age group of 55 and above. These figures remain consistent even after accounting for the overall increase in vehicle miles traveled during this period.

With traffic deaths on the rise and traffic congestion at an all-time high, one way to keep older drivers on the road safely is to maintain their driving skills through education.

This is why I support reducing the course length from 8 to 4 hours without compromising the quality of the content to encourage more participation.

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Together, we can help make our roads safer for everyone.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

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