A new bill (HB122) is being proposed in Utah that would allow foster parents to give permission for their foster children obtain a driver’s license.

One of the proponents of the bill is Senator Karen Mayne, who is a foster mother.

While on the surface this looks like a good bill, I have a few problems with it. First and foremost being my own child. Sammy will be eligible to begin driver’s training in about a year. There is no way I would want this child behind the wheel of a car. He does not have the logic or responsibility to be able to safely drive a car. Allowing him to drive a car would put the public in danger.

I’m sure the legislators who proposed and authored the bill are thinking of the children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect. This does not take into account the kids that are in foster care because of delinquency.

While in most cases this would be a good thing for the kids and the foster parents, not in all cases. This bill would allow foster children to be able to transport themselves to and from events, school or jobs or even to help out foster parents with errands.

The other issue is that the kids would be insured under the foster parents’ auto insurance. In my previous real world life, I was an insurance agent. It says that the bill will reimburse the foster parents for the cost of the insurance, but there is a bigger issue than just the cost of the insurance. I have seen many parents lose their auto insurance because of accidents or tickets by their kids. Will the state be willing to reimburse the family if they have to move to a high risk auto insurance company?

The concept of the bill is good, but I think a little bit more work needs to be done it first.

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