New Hampshire Senate Votes to Study Online Driving Issue

New Hampshire’s Senate has voted to study whether to allow teen drivers to take online driver education courses instead of attending driving school to get their driver’s licenses.

The Senate voted 17-7 Wednesday against letting teens under age 18 complete online courses and getting a total of 60 hours of supervised behind-the-wheel training to get the licenses. Parents would have had to provide 20 of the 60 hours of training in the vehicle. Parents also would have had to complete an online course.

Teens who failed their written or road test and wanted to try again before turning 18 would have had to pass a driving school course.

Supporters said the online course is less expensive than driving school, but opponents wanted its safety risks studied.