2009 Iowa Code
Title 8 - Transportation
Subtitle 2 - Vehicles
CHAPTER 321 - MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD
321.178 - DRIVER EDUCATION -- RESTRICTED LICENSE -- RECIPROCITY.

        321.178  DRIVER EDUCATION -- RESTRICTED LICENSE --
      RECIPROCITY.
         1.  Approved course.
         a.  An approved driver education course as programmed by the
      department shall consist of at least thirty clock hours of classroom
      instruction, of which no more than one hundred eighty minutes shall
      be provided to a student in a single day, and six or more clock hours
      of laboratory instruction of which at least three clock hours shall
      consist of street or highway driving.  Classroom instruction shall
      include all of the following:
         (1)  A minimum of four hours of instruction concerning substance
      abuse.
         (2)  A minimum of twenty minutes of instruction concerning
      railroad crossing safety.
         (3)  Instruction relating to becoming an organ donor under the
      revised uniform anatomical gift Act as provided in chapter 142C.
         (4)  Instruction providing an awareness about sharing the road
      with bicycles and motorcycles.  The instruction course shall be first
      approved by the state department of transportation.  Instructional
      materials creating an awareness about sharing the road with bicycles
      and motorcycles shall also be distributed during the course of
      instruction.
         b.  To be qualified as a classroom driver education
      instructor, a person shall have satisfied the educational
      requirements for a teaching license at the elementary or secondary
      level and hold a valid license to teach driver education in the
      public schools of this state.
         c.  Every public school district in Iowa shall offer or make
      available to all students residing in the school district or Iowa
      students attending a nonpublic school in the district an approved
      course in driver education.  The receiving district shall be the
      school district responsible for making driver education available to
      a student participating in open enrollment under section 282.18.  The
      courses may be offered at sites other than at the public school,
      including nonpublic school facilities within the public school
      districts.  An approved course offered during the summer months, on
      Saturdays, after regular school hours during the regular terms or
      partly in one term or summer vacation period and partly in the
      succeeding term or summer vacation period, as the case may be, shall
      satisfy the requirements of this section to the same extent as an
      approved course offered during the regular school hours of the school
      term.  A student who successfully completes and obtains certification
      in an approved course in driver education or an approved course in
      motorcycle education may, upon proof of such fact, be excused from
      any field test which the student would otherwise be required to take
      in demonstrating the student's ability to operate a motor vehicle.  A
      student shall not be excused from any field test if a parent,
      guardian, or instructor requests that a test be administered.  Street
      or highway driving instruction may be provided by a person qualified
      as a classroom driver education instructor or a person certified by
      the department and authorized by the board of educational examiners.
      A person shall not be required to hold a current Iowa teacher or
      administrator license at the elementary or secondary level or to have
      satisfied the educational requirements for an Iowa teacher license at
      the elementary or secondary level in order to be certified by the
      department or authorized by the board of educational examiners to
      provide street or highway driving instruction.  A final field test
      prior to a student's completion of an approved course shall be
      administered by a person qualified as a classroom driver education
      instructor.  The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A
      to provide for certification of persons qualified to provide street
      or highway driving instruction.  The board of educational examiners
      shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to provide for
      authorization of persons certified by the department to provide
      street or highway driving instruction.
         d.  "Student", for purposes of this section, means a person
      between the ages of fourteen years and twenty-one years who satisfies
      the preliminary licensing requirements of the department.
         e.  Any person who successfully completes an approved driver
      education course at a private or commercial driver education school
      licensed by the department shall likewise be eligible for a driver's
      license as provided in section 321.180B or 321.194.
         2.  Restricted license.
         a.  A person between sixteen and eighteen years of age who has
      completed an approved driver's education course and is not in
      attendance at school and has not met the requirements described in
      section 299.2, subsection 1, may be issued a restricted license only
      for travel to and from work or to transport dependents to and from
      temporary care facilities, if necessary for the person to maintain
      the person's present employment.  The restricted license shall be
      issued by the department only upon confirmation of the person's
      employment and need for a restricted license to travel to and from
      work or to transport dependents to and from temporary care facilities
      if necessary to maintain the person's employment.  The employer shall
      notify the department if the employment of the person is terminated
      before the person attains the age of eighteen.
         b.  The department may suspend a restricted license issued
      under this section upon receiving a record of the person's conviction
      for one violation and shall revoke the license upon receiving a
      record of conviction for two or more violations of a law of this
      state or a city ordinance regulating the operation of motor vehicles
      on highways, other than parking violations as defined in section
      321.210.  After revoking a license under this section the department
      shall not grant an application for a new license or permit until the
      expiration of one year or until the person attains the age of
      eighteen whichever is the longer period.
         3.  Driver's license reciprocity.
         a.  The department may issue a class C or M driver's license
      to a person who is sixteen or seventeen years of age and who is a
      current resident of the state, but who has been driving as a resident
      of another state for at least one year prior to residency within the
      state.
         b.  The following criteria must be met prior to issuance of a
      driver's license pursuant to this subsection:
         (1)  The minor must reside with a parent or guardian.
         (2)  The minor must have driven under a valid driver's license for
      at least one year in the prior state of residence.  Six months of the
      one year computation may include driving with an instruction permit.

         (3)  The minor must have had no moving traffic violations on the
      minor's driving record.
         (4)  The minor must pass the written and driving skills tests as
      required by the department, but is not required to have taken a
      driver's education class.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [C66, § 321.177; C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 321.178; 82 Acts, ch
      1215, § 1, 2, ch 1248, § 1] 

         Section History: Recent Form

         84 Acts, ch 1022, § 3; 86 Acts, ch 1220, § 28; 89 Acts, ch 266, §
      1; 90 Acts, ch 1230, § 25; 91 Acts, ch 128, § 1, 2; 92 Acts, ch 1163,
      § 75; 92 Acts, ch 1231, § 44; 94 Acts, ch 1102, §1; 98 Acts, ch 1112,
      §2, 14, 16; 99 Acts, ch 13, §11; 2000 Acts, ch 1133, §3; 2001 Acts,
      ch 33, §1; 2002 Acts, ch 1140, §32, 33; 2003 Acts, ch 108, §55; 2005
      Acts, ch 8, §15; 2006 Acts, ch 1021, §1; 2007 Acts, ch 44, §28; 2007
      Acts, ch 214, §40
         Referred to in §321.177, 321.180B, 321.191, 321.213B
         Driver education courses to include instruction relating to energy
      efficiency and safety; 90 Acts, ch 1252, § 54
         Department of public health to cooperate to provide materials and
      information relating to becoming an organ donor; 94 Acts, ch 1102, §3