Kansas Driver Education

The state of Kansas is one of several states that have a tougher level of requirements in order to obtain either a learner's permit or driver's license. This attention to detail is in effect due to the high number of teens who are either involved in or responsible for automobile accidents each year. Many of these accidents result in destruction of property, serious injury, or death, and can be avoided on occasion. When drugs or alcohol are involved, this number of unavoidable accidents is even higher, causing the rise in the number of states that require driver's education to be completed before the teenager can begin driving.

In Kansas, teenagers must be at least 15 years old to begin the graduated licensing program. They must have completed driver's education courses before they applied for a learner's permit. This program must consist of both classroom training and behind-the-wheel instruction. These drivers will need to achieve an additional 50 hours of behind-the-wheel experience with a licensed adult driver at least 18 years old, and 10 of these hours must be at night.

However, if the student is driving with a front seat passenger under the age of 21, the hours spent driving to not count towards the obligatory 50 hours of experience. Additionally, the teen driver must hold an incident-free learner's permit for a minimum of 6 months before they can apply for their driver's license. The next couple of years will gradually reduce the number of restrictions placed on this first driver's license, so prepare accordingly with both classroom instruction and behind-the-wheel experience.