Georgia Graduated Driver Licensing

TADRA is a graduated driver's license program for young drivers ages 15 to 18. It was established in Georgia by a collaborative effort of highway safety advocates, legislators, law enforcement officials, educators, businesses and media in the wake of a high number of fatal vehicle crashes involving young, inexperienced drivers.

This act directly addresses the leading killer of our young people - traffic crashes. The law significantly changes the way young motorists earn and maintain the privilege of driving by providing a controlled means for new drivers to gain experience, and by reducing high-risk driving situations. While the law does focus on young drivers, it also contains important provisions that affect drivers over 21, particularly in the area of DUI prevention and enforcement.

Three-Step Process in TADRA

TADRA involves an intense, three-step educational process that allows the young driver to gain more experience behind the wheel:

STEP ONE - INSTRUCTIONAL PERMIT (CP) is granted to 15-year-olds upon successfully passing a written examination. The driver with this permit must be accompanied by a passenger who is at least 21 years old and possesses a valid Class C driver's license at all times while driving.

STEP TWO - INTERMEDIATE LICENSE (Class D) The license is granted to drivers between 16 and 18 years of age who have held an Instructional Permit for 12 months and passed a driving test. The Intermediate License has the following restrictions:

No driving between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. No exceptions. Passenger restrictions: For the initial six-month period immediately following the issuance of a Class D license, any Class D license holder shall not drive a motor vehicle upon the public roads, streets or highways of this state when any other passenger in the vehicle is not a member of the driver's immediate family. During the second six-month period immediately following issuance of a Class D license, any Class D license holder shall not drive a motor vehicle upon the public roads, streets or highways of this state when more than one other passenger in the vehicle (who is not a member of the driver’s immediate family) is less than 21 years of age. After the second six-month period, any Class D license holder shall not drive a motor vehicle upon the public roads, streets or highways of this state when more than three other passengers in the vehicle (who are not members of the driver’s immediate family) are less than 21 years of age. Joshua's Law - On or after January 1, 2007, any 16 year old who obtains an initial Class D license must have completed: You must have completed a driver education course approved by the Department of Driver Services and You also must have completed a cumulative total of at least forty (40) hours of other supervised driving experience, including at least six (6) hours at night.

If you have not completed an approved drivers education course, you cannot get your Class D driver's license until you reach age seventeen (17). Remember, forty (40) hour of driving experience, including six (6) hours of driving at night, is always required for a Class D driver's license.

STEP THREE - A FULL LICENSE (Class C) driver's license is granted to drivers ages 18 years of age and older who hold the class D license and have incurred no major traffic convictions during the previous 12 months. The following violations must not occur during this period:

DUI Eluding a police officer Drag racing Reckless driving Hit and run Any violation that assesses four or more points on the driver's license

** Drivers under the age of 18 years in a 12-month license suspension period must not incur a violation point count over four points.

** Georgia has a zero tolerance for underage drunk driving. Convicted drivers with a blood-alcohol content level of .08 grams or higher will face a 12-month license suspension on the first offense.

WHY TADRA?

In 2000, one out of five fatal crashes in Georgia involved speed, with drivers ages 16-17 having the highest rate of motor vehicle fatalities (based on the total number of drivers per age group.) Young, inexperienced drivers ages 16 to 24 have a higher rate of crashes, injuries, and fatalities than drivers over age 24. The Teenage and Adult Driver Responsibility Act (TADRA), enacted on July 1, 1997, led to a 44.5 percent decline in teenage speed-related crashes in 18 months, which was five times less than the rate of drivers over age 24.

What is Georgia Graduated Driver Licensing?

What is Georgia GDL? Georgia Graduated Driver Licensing is a system for phasing in on-road driving, allowing beginners to get their initial experience under conditions that involve lower risk and introducing them in stages to more complex driving situations.

Take some time to watch the Young Drivers video here. See if your teen likes this video. If they do, they will love our Georgia graduated driver licensing program.

We begin with combining the in-class with the behind-the-wheel training process concurrent with one another. Then we add more hours behind-the-wheel to give the new drivers an opportunity to experience all four seasons and weather conditions under a controlled risk factor. We take away the 6 hour driver training clock and base achievement and graduation on performance, skill and experience.

Remember when we were trying to teach our new teenagers as if we were traveling on a two-lane dirt road at 35 MPH, when our average traveled speed in Georgia exceeds 55 MPH on a six-lane highway? Most families had a single vehicle in the fifties and sixties, and then to two vehicles in the seventies. The days of driving on weekends with mom and dad for the first year or two is over. In today’s hectic schedules, we are not allowing ourselves time to protect our Georgia teens and teach them to drive as we should be. Parents need to realize that as the times change we must keep pace with that change.

Our driving generation, 35 to 50 years old, will be remembered as the worse driving generation in the history of the vehicle. We average 40,000 fatalities per year. Our generation needs to change the way we think and teach Georgia graduated driver licensing.

If you look closely, you'll realize we spend about 12 years on basic education, reading writing, math, history and physical education…and only 6 hours behind the wheel training in a vehicle.

We need to be remembered as the generation that created the best Georgia drivers in history. The generation that did something about the way we think and teach driver training. We need help from every mom and dad to complete this goal. We need to invest our time in our teenagers and take the time needed to teach our children to drive better.

This could mean as much as 1 or two years of guidance. And to do this you will need the very best Georgia curriculum and training videos available. You will need to allow Georgia graduated driver licensing to become part of your families dinner conversation and sharing experiences on new intersections, changes on the interstate on ramps or maybe a lost of a fellow student friend.

Georgia Driver education and training is no longer a project to hire out to the local driving school. Parents need to get involved and stay involved for at least two or three years. Placing driving restrictions and hours on when a new driver is allowed to drive and with whom. This, in essence, is Georgia Graduated Driver Licensing.