New Restrictions for Teen Drivers Effective July 1

The changes to teen driver permits and rules brought about by 2020 Senate Bill 113 were suspended by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem last year. The suspension ends on June 30 and the new rules take effect starting Thursday, July 1. The new rules apply to both existing and new learner’s and restricted permit applicants. There is no “grandfathering,” so this applies to all unless they have already upgraded to an unrestricted adult driver’s license. Questions? Find the answers at https://dps.sd.gov/driverlicensing, by email at dpsdl@state.sd.us, or call 605.773.6883.Instruction Permits:

• Must be eligible to upgrade (driven 90 days with driver’s ed or 180 days without driver’s ed on the permit), and have upgraded to a Restricted Permit before 7/1/2021. 
• Those not eligible to upgrade to a Restricted Permit before 7/1/2021 will fall under the new instruction permit laws:
          1.  Must drive on the Instruction Permit for 180 days (with driver’s ed)
          2.  Must drive on the Instruction Permit for 275 days (without driver’s ed)
          3.  Must have a minimum of 50 hours of parent/guardian supervised driving (10 hours at night
               and 10 hours in inclement weather) to upgrade to a Restricted Permit.  When the driver and
               parent/guardian return to an exam station to upgrade to a Restricted Permit, the parent will
               need to sign the “Supervised Driving Statement” affirming the permit holder has completed
               the required supervised driving.  Use this student driving log to record the hours driven.

Restricted Permits:Restricted Permits not upgraded to Operator licenses before 7/1/2021 will fall under the new regulations:

• Anyone under 18 must hold a restricted permit for 6 months (and meet all the other requirements) before upgrading to a full operator license.
• Anyone driving on a Restricted Permit cannot have any passengers outside their immediate family or household for 6 months from the initial permit issuance date. 
• Anyone who has driven on a Restricted Permit for 6 months or more may only have one passenger outside their immediate family or household.

Operator License:

• Must be 16 years of age,
• Have met the requirements of an Instruction Permit (see above),
• And driven on a Restricted Permit for a minimum of 6 months.