Behind the Wheel in Iowa: Course Driving and Family Practice

Before enrolling: what the lab hours look like

Iowa Code 321.178 sets the course minimums: 30 hours of class and 6 of lab, and at least half the lab must be real road driving. Lessons use a car with an instructor brake, and time spent as a back-seat observer counts for nothing.

The DOT wants lab hours wrapped up 45 days after class ends, extendable to 90 when something unexpected gets in the way. For a summer course, lock in the driving dates before booking a vacation.

Choosing where your teen learns

Your local district is required to provide a course to resident students (open-enrolled students go elsewhere) and is allowed to charge for it. Families who homeschool or use private schools can still enroll in the district course.

Private schools and community colleges are licensed by the DOT, which posts them all, with phone numbers, on one list. A school based two towns over may still teach in yours, so ask where sessions are held.

During the permit year: family practice

Course lab time does not count toward family practice. Separately, your teen needs 20 supervised road hours, 2 in darkness, for the intermediate license, and another 10, 2 in darkness, for the full license at 17.

Whoever rides along needs a valid license, sits up front, and is either you (or another parent, guardian or custodian), a close relative aged 21 and up, an instructor, or an adult 25 and up you have authorized in writing.

• Intermediate stage: 20 hours including 2 in darkness.
• Full license stage: 10 hours including 2 in darkness.
• Home course: 30 road hours including 3 in darkness; 20 of them double as intermediate hours.

If you teach the course yourself

Teaching it yourself is legal under Iowa Code 321.178A if you qualify. The driving component is 30 road hours with 3 in darkness, and your log records, for each drive, the day, the duration, what went wrong and what got better. Twenty of the 30 can be counted again toward the intermediate license.

You qualify with a full license and a spotless two year record. Expect your teen to drive for a DOT examiner before the intermediate license, every time.

Instructor tip: write the weak spot down right after each drive, while it is fresh. Next session, start with that skill for ten minutes before anything else.

On test day: will there even be one?

Most likely not. The DOT reports that above 93 percent of approved course graduates never take another drive test. The exceptions: the instructor requests one, a health issue could affect driving, a judge orders one, or your teen learned through a home course.

For a test, the car is checked first. Plates on both ends, valid registration and insurance, and working horn, blinkers, brake lights, belts, wipers and rearview mirror. No parallel parking is required.

If your teen needs extra help

After a second violation on an intermediate license, the DOT's suspension letter points to Alive at 25, a four hour class from the Iowa Illinois Safety Council. Taking it is voluntary, and your teen may simply sit out the suspension.

For students with special needs, the DOT keeps a list of schools and associations that may be able to help. Reach out months ahead; evaluations and adapted cars book up.