WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. — From the Twin Cities to Rochester to Mankato, driving schools across Minnesota have started launching online driver's education classes this year thanks to a new law passed by the state legislature.
The online classes do not replace behind-the-wheel instruction necessary for obtaining a driver's license. However, virtual lessons are now widely available to students seeking the 30 hours of classroom instruction required for the written permit test, which teenagers can take at the age of 15.
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services, the state has approved 18 online driver's education programs so far. That includes the state's largest driving school, Safeway Driving School in Roseville, which built its own online program and began offering these services last month. Programs have also sprouted up in smaller towns, such as Headwaters Driving School in the Central Minnesota community of Menahga and Teens, Inc., in Sauk Centre, among many others.
Pete Hosmer, the owner of A+ Driving School in White Bear Lake, also started a fully online driver's education program last month. His son, Bode, was among the first to take the course and promptly aced the written permit exam with a score of 100 percent.
"I'm not saying my program is perfect, but in his case it was!" Pete Hosmer said. "It's still a 30-hour program, still usually about a two-week long process, but kids can take it whenever they want. At any time. They don't have to have an instructor present."
At A+ Driving School, the online courses feature pre-recorded clips of instructors, which are designed to give students the same interactive feel as an in-person class.
"I feel like I got a good experience. The videos were entertaining and then the pop-up questions were nice for me," Bode Hosmer said, "to remember what's going on."
Both DFL and Republican lawmakers have supported the concept of online driver's education classes in recent years. As far back as 2021, Republican Sen. John Jasinski of Faribault authored a bill to expand online access for the classroom portion of driver's ed and called the decision a "no-brainer."
Although driving schools shifted to remote learning early in the pandemic, the state legislature did not formally authorize online driver's education until this past session, when lawmakers included new, explicit language in the final transportation bill. The law requires driving schools to offer 24/7 technical assistance to students taking online classes. Instructors must also monitor their students' progress and must be available to answer questions "in a timely manner," even though they aren't joining the students live.
Rep. Erin Koegel (DFL-Fridley), a member of the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee, said some driving schools initially expressed concerns about offering online courses without a live instructor present. However, she said the new law offers some compromise by requiring instructors to remain a vital part of the process.
"For kids who live far away from a town, in Greater [Minnesota] or in rural areas, this is really going to help get them that access," Koegel said. "People learn differently. This is just allowing folks to choose the platform that works best for them."
Minnesota is far from the first state to authorize online driver's education. According to some estimates, more than a dozen states across the U.S. now allow some form of online classes, including the border states of Iowa and Wisconsin.
"It's the way of the future," Pete Hosmer said. "Do I think in-person, face-to-face instruction is the best? Yes. Is this still an option that will work for most kids? Also yes."
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