Behind the Wheel in Georgia: Planning Your Teen's Joshua's Law Driving

Before you begin: the four routes, seen from the driver's seat

DDS recognizes four methods. In Methods 1 and 3, the 30-hour course (classroom, or a certified virtual program) is paired with 6 hours of in-car training at a certified school plus 40 supervised hours with a parent or guardian. The even-numbered methods, 2 and 4, drop the school driving and use 40 parent-taught hours from the Parent/Teen Driving Guide instead, and those hours already include the supervised driving.

Seventeen-year-olds have used the same four methods as 16-year-olds since July 1, 2021. The one exception is a 17-year-old who has enlisted, who can skip the permit wait altogether and go for a Class C with form DS-517.

In practice: if you are a confident driver with evenings free, Method 4 (online course plus the parent guide) keeps costs down. If you are anxious about teaching highway merges, Method 3 adds 6 professional hours without giving up the online course.

Before you begin: who can supervise and who can teach

Supervised driving means an adult of at least 21 with an unexpired Class C license is in the car, stays in the next seat for the whole trip and can take over if needed. A parent, a guardian or another adult who meets those terms all qualify.

The 6 professional hours count only at a driver training school DDS has certified; anything from an uncertified school is wasted for licensing. Search the school's name in the DDS list before you pay, and find out whether the price covers the in-car hours or just the 30-hour course.

During the permit year: working through the parent guide

DDS gives away its 40-Hour Parent/Teen Driving Guide. It lays out lessons from a first lap of a parking lot through to highways and night driving, and paired with either version of the 30-hour course (classroom or virtual) it makes up a complete approved program.

No log has to be turned in, but tick off each session against the guide anyway. At the Class D stage, an adult (you, a guardian or a DDS-certified instructor) states under penalty of law that the 40 hours and 6 night hours happened, and your notes back that up.

• Opening lessons: controls, empty lots, neighborhood streets
• Middle lessons: intersections, lane changes, moderate traffic
• Later lessons: highways, darkness, wet roads
• Last sessions: road test maneuvers and full practice tests

Road test day: what the examiner scores

DDS lists the items: parallel parking with no more than 18 inches to the curb, reversing roughly 50 feet slowly and in a straight line while looking back, proper stops at signs and signals, turning the car around in two, three or five moves, smooth gear changes if the car has a stick shift, lining up in the correct lane before a corner, yielding to people on foot, cyclists and other vehicles, signaling turns, passing safely and keeping a safe gap.

Both hands stay on the wheel, and no elbow on the window ledge. DDS suggests not chatting, because the examiner is busy scoring. On the traditional test, 75 percent passes.

Road test day: traditional or virtual

Georgia has two formats. On the traditional test, an examiner sits in the passenger seat. On the Virtual Road Test, the examiner works remotely through a dual-facing camera and a hands-free device, and a licensed adult aged 21 or more stays in the car.

Either way, the car must be safe to drive, insured for liability, registered and carrying a plate that has not expired. If the turn signals do not work, your teen must know hand signals. The road skills test is in English only.

If the road test goes badly

After one failure, the wait is 1 day; after a second, 7 days. If the failure came from a crash or a traffic violation during the test, whether or not a ticket was written, the wait is 30 days. Each retest needs its own appointment.

Spend the gap on whatever the examiner marked down. Parallel parking and stopping fully behind the line are frequent problems, and the after-dark sessions suit practice on looking far ahead and holding a steady speed.