MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A state law linking student discipline records to driving privileges will take effect Saturday, Aug. 1, impacting Alabama students seeking learner’s permits and driver’s licenses.
Known as Taylor’s Law, the measure was enacted in 2009 through Act 2009-713 and allows the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to delay a student’s eligibility for a learner’s permit, motorcycle license, driver’s license, or boating license based on disciplinary points assigned by schools.
The law applies to students age 12 and older attending public or private secondary schools in Alabama. Under the state-mandated point system, students receive one point for each day of in-school suspension and two points for each day of out-of-school suspension. Placement in an alternative school results in six points, while expulsion carries 20 points.
Each point translates into a one-week delay in eligibility for obtaining a permit or license. Delays are capped at one year. Students who go two consecutive years without receiving additional disciplinary points will have their accumulated points removed.
According to the Code of Alabama, the law allows the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to extend the age at which a student may apply for driving privileges “until the student is eligible to apply for a driver’s license under the imposed point system.”
Taylor’s Law is named in memory of David Keith Taylor of Muscle Shoals, who was killed in a crash involving a teenage driver. Supporters say the law is intended to encourage accountability and positive behavior before students get behind the wheel.
