Parents and guardians are part of every Texas teen’s driver education. You certify the 30 hours of practice, you go with your teen to DPS, and you set the rules that keep a new driver safe in their first, riskiest year. This guide brings together what Texas requires and what safety research recommends.

1. Your role

• Supervise practice. Your teen needs 30 hours of driving practice with a licensed adult, on top of the 14 hours in the car with our instructors.
• Certify the hours. You sign the official TDLR 30-hour log when the hours are complete.
• Help with DPS. Gather the original documents your teen needs for the learner license and, later, the provisional license (Day 1 of the course lists them).
• Set and enforce the rules. Texas law sets the minimum; your family can go further.

2. The 30 hours of supervised practice

• 30 hours in total, at least 10 of them at night.
• The supervising driver must be at least 21, hold a valid driver license, and have at least one year of driving experience. It doesn’t have to be a parent, but a parent or guardian certifies the hours.
• No more than 2 hours of practice a day.
• Driving simulators don’t count.
• Keep the log as you go, with dates, times and what you practiced. Don’t try to fill it in from memory at the end.

3. A practice plan

Build skills in steps. Move on only when your teen is calm and consistent at the current step.

1. Empty parking lot: starting, stopping smoothly, steering, turning, backing and parking.
2. Quiet residential streets: stop signs, right-of-way, turns, watching for children and parked cars.
3. Busier city streets: traffic lights, lane changes, left turns across traffic, pedestrians.
4. Rural roads: higher speeds, curves, hills, passing rules.
5. Highways: entering, lane use and exiting, at a quiet time first.
6. Different conditions: night (at least 10 hours), rain, rush hour, and unfamiliar routes.

Tips for calm practice

• Plan the route before you start, and keep sessions short at first.
• Give instructions early and clearly: “At the next light, turn left.”
• Ask your teen to commentary drive: say out loud what they see and what they’ll do.
• Stay calm. If either of you gets frustrated, pull over and take a break.
• Set the example every time you drive: seat belt on, phone away, speed limits kept. Your teen is watching.

4. The license rules your teen must follow

Learner license

• A licensed adult aged 21 or older must sit in the front passenger seat.
• No phone use at all while driving, not even hands-free, except in an emergency.
• It must be held for at least 6 months before a provisional license.

Provisional license (until age 18)

• No phone use while driving, except in an emergency.
• No more than one passenger under 21 who isn’t a family member.
• No driving between midnight and 5 a.m., with limited exceptions such as work, school activities or a medical emergency.

Breaking these rules can delay or cost your teen their license.

5. Choosing a safe car

The car your teen drives is one of the most important safety decisions you’ll make. Research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recommends:

• Not too small: a heavier car protects better in a crash. IIHS recommends a curb weight of at least 2,750 pounds, which rules out minicars.
• Not too powerful: avoid sports cars and high-horsepower models, which tempt new drivers to speed.
• Electronic stability control: a must. It has been standard on most cars since the 2012 model year.
• Good crash-test ratings from IIHS and NHTSA. Newer cars generally protect better, and newer models also tend to have better headlights.

IIHS and Consumer Reports publish a yearly list of recommended new and used vehicles for teens at iihs.org/teenvehicles.

6. Safety technology

• Crash-avoidance features such as automatic emergency braking, lane departure prevention and blind-spot detection are especially helpful for new drivers, who are still learning to spot hazards.
• Teen driver settings offered by some automakers can limit top speed, mute the audio until everyone is buckled, and send parents driving reports. Some insurer apps do the same.
• Use driver-assist steering features with care. Systems that steer or change lanes still need the driver’s full attention, and new drivers need to build their own skills first.
• Phones: turn on the phone’s driving focus or Do Not Disturb While Driving mode automatically.

7. Setting family rules

Texas law sets the minimum. Research on graduated licensing shows that stricter limits in the first months of driving alone reduce crashes. Consider:

• An earlier curfew than the law requires, especially at first
• No teen passengers for the first months
• Always telling you where they’re going and when they’ll be back
• A promise to call you for a ride, no questions asked, if they ever feel unsafe to drive or ride

Write your rules down, sign them together, and review them as your teen gains experience. Use the agreement below or make your own.

Print the agreement

8. Useful links

• Texas Driver Handbook (DPS): dps.texas.gov, form DL-7, in English and Spanish
• Learner and provisional license requirements: dps.texas.gov, Driver License section
• Impact Texas Teen Drivers (ITTD), required before the road test: free on the DPS website
• IIHS parent roadmaps (choosing a vehicle, safety technology, setting rules): iihs.org/teen-roadmaps
• Questions about the course or lessons: Wylie Driving School, (972) 442-6200, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm