“Hey, did you hear that they lowered the permit age to 15?”

Instantly, three heads in the classroom whipped around to make sure they heard that right. Exclamations from my classmates erupted; ‘What?!’ ‘Are you being for real?’ ‘There’s no way.’ duPont Manual High School student Maggie Stone, 15, immediately grabbed her laptop from her backpack and threw it open, heading straight for the Kentucky Online Appointment Scheduling website. 

“You better not be messing with me right now, oh my god. This will change my life,” she exclaimed. 

House Bill 15 was passed by the Kentucky General Assembly on March 25, 2025. The new law lowers the age at which Kentucky citizens can take the driver’s permit test to 15, which is also the minimum permit age in 41 other US states. The bill aims to follow other states’ lead and to help families balance busy schedules. Some 15-year-olds across the state are overjoyed — but there are concerns on what the new policy could mean for drivers. 

Stone is one of many sophomores who has a late birthday, meaning under previous state protocols she would be left watching many of her friends get their permits and restricted licenses a whole year ahead of her. She is also an engaged student at duPont Manual High School and is involved in several extracurriculars and organizations outside of school. In order to get to and from these activities, she depends on her parents, who also have to drive Stone’s younger brother around town, too. Stone explains that her mom is constantly under stress trying to get everyone where they need to be, while also maintaining her career. 

Stone’s excitement was no wonder; in fact, her sentiment was shared by several other students in the classroom. This new bill really sounded like it was going to change their teenage lives for the better. 

Specific changes

According to drive.ky.gov, the former regulation to obtain a permit was that an individual must be at least 16 years old, pass the vision test, and score an 80% or higher on the Kentucky DMV permit test, which consists of 40 questions about basic road knowledge and rules. After passing, the individual must hold the permit for a minimum of six months and accumulate 60 hours of driving practice with a licensed driver over the age of 21 in the passenger seat. After this period, they can schedule a road test demonstrating the skills accumulated over their permit period. This test includes parallel parking, stopping, a turnabout, and reversing. Once passing, the person receives a sticker on their existing permit that labels it as an intermediate license, or restricted, for teenage drivers. During the intermediate license phase the teen can drive by themselves, but is limited to only carrying up to one unrelated passenger under 20 years of age, (but as many family members as desired), and they may not drive between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. without good cause, such as an emergency, work, or school, according to the Kentucky Driver Manual. They must also take a Graduated Driver Licensing Online Course before getting their full, unrestricted license. 

House Bill 15 only changes the age you can apply for a permit, meaning the periods for each stage will be longer. A teenager must still be at least 16 to take the road test and get an intermediate license, and now must be at least 17 in order to get their full license. So, as enticing as the bill seems to teenagers, it doesn’t provide as much early driving as it seems – new drivers will be able to drive on their own only six months before they previously would have been able to. This prolonged permit phase, however, will allow teenagers to learn and practice more, with the goal to create safer drivers. 

Immediate issues

The main reasoning behind the switch was to help busy families. “We were one of only a few states that required teenagers to be 16,” explains Scottie Ellis, Director of Digital and Creative Services for Governor Andy Beshear. “It looks like the main reasoning was to get in line with others / help families balance activities.” According to Bill Track 50, the bill aims to address a specific need for increased transportation opportunities for youth by lowering the age for obtaining a driver's permit.

Additionally, the General Assembly put in an “emergency clause” on the bill, causing legislation to take effect immediately upon being signed by the Governor, bypassing the regular 90-day waiting period before implementation, Ellis explained.

This was despite the Kentucky Transportation Department testifying they needed more time to update the system. The immediate implementation caused major backup and confusion on the scheduling website after the initial announcement, Ellis said, and 15-year-olds and parents across the state experienced frustration with the scheduling process. However, the system is updated now and working properly, although lines are still long.

15-year-old student Stephanie Nguyen wasn’t able to schedule her permit test until May 27th, more than two months after the original bill was signed into law. Even before the law change, scheduling appointments for testing slots had been difficult, but the new bill increased that wait time even further. Nguyen explains that new times are made available at 8 a.m. each day for several weeks in advance, and are taken fairly quickly, making the process even harder for those who are in school and whose parents are in work during that time. 

“Thankfully my mom was able to get the appointment for me while I was at school,” Nguyen said. “And for the waiting it took a really, really long time, and the day that I got there the system was down so it took even longer than normal, and I had to wait for like 3 hours, which I know is less than some people. I know some people who waited for like 5 hours.” 

Situations similar to Nguyen’s bring up inequity concerns related to House Bill 15. Families who are unable to get onto the website at 8 a.m. due to work and school are at a significant disadvantage to scheduling, and these families are often the ones who need an extra driver the most. Part of the bill’s emergency clause reasoning was to immediately help families in rural areas so they don’t have to depend on third-party ride platforms, according to State Rep. Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, the bill’s main sponsor. 

“The youth of Kentucky deserve, want and expect this,” Rudy said in an interview with Spectrum News.

While parents in urban areas may be able to depend on ride-sharing apps for their children, Rudy said it may help out families in rural areas.

“Those kids, particularly in rural Kentucky, don't have those third-party ride platforms," Rudy said to Spectrum News. "I think this is going to be a good experience for them."

Concerns about access and safety remain

However, some note that barriers still remain, including that lower income families are often unable to afford another car, especially at an earlier time than expected. An article by United Way describes that, “For ALICE [Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed] individuals, purchasing a personal vehicle can be a significant financial burden. First, there’s the steep cost of a vehicle itself, which can skyrocket during periods of inflation or low supply. Then there are numerous recurring costs related to things like car insurance, state license plate and tag renewals, maintenance, repairs, fuel, freeway tolls, rental housing parking fees, and more.” Car insurance costs more for riskier clients, and since new drivers have no driving history, insurance companies play it safe and raise their insurance rates for teen drivers, placing an enormous financial burden on these low income families that the bill is supposed to be assisting.

It’s unclear whether House Bill 15 will increase safety or decrease it, considering the fact that 2,611 people were killed in crashes involving a teen driver in 2022, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (NHTSA).

“Teen drivers have a higher rate of fatal crashes, mainly because of their immaturity, lack of skills, and lack of experience,” the NHTSA website says. 

Another cause for such crashes is drowsiness. While the main reasoning for lowering the permit age was to allow students to balance their school, extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, and sports without depending on their working parents, all of these commitments contribute to drowsiness. NHTSA explains that this is the direct cause of teenagers compromising their sleep, leading to more crashes. “Drowsy driving includes more than just falling asleep. It affects a driver’s alertness, attention, reaction time, judgement, and decision-making capabilities,” highlights NHTSA. “Those who are at higher risk for a crash caused by drowsy driving include drivers 17-23 years old, and those who sleep less than six hours a night, drive on rural roads, or who drive between midnight and 6 a.m.” 

Parent perspective

Parents across the state share their concerns over the new bill. “I'm concerned about other 15 year olds out on the road. Just are they mentally, emotionally, physically ready to be behind a vehicle that weighs several tons, and costs a lot of money, thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars, and do they have the emotional and mental capacity to have the stamina and the patience and the wisdom to be able to be behind the wheel of a vehicle,” said Kristen Segebarth, Lexington parent of 15-year-old Caroline Segebarth.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), supports Segebarth’s concerns. “Pictures of the brain in action show that adolescents' brains work differently than adults when they make decisions or solve problems. Their actions are guided more by the emotional and reactive amygdala and less by the thoughtful, logical frontal cortex.” AACAP continues to highlight that adolescents during this period of their life are more likely to act on impulse and get into accidents of all kinds. However, while emotional maturity does improve as an adolescent ages, there isn’t a significant difference between 15 and 16 year old thinking holistically. The rate at which one matures differs between teenagers, making it hard to distinguish the ‘perfect age’ for an individual to start learning how to operate a motor vehicle. 

Due to these concerns, Segebarth chose to hold back on scheduling a permit test appointment for Caroline. “[Caroline]’s done a lot of research and we've had multiple conversations about it. But we haven't pursued the next step in scheduling anything for a permit,” Segebarth explains. 

Meanwhile, Caroline is excited about the new bill and can’t wait to get her permit. “I really like [House Bill 15]. I think it's just going to be really beneficial to the family system if in the future, when I have the intermediate and the whole licenses, being able to do my own transportation kind of takes the weight off of my mom and my parents.” 

While House Bill 15 has created some difficult conversations in households, those talks are important to feel out readiness and decide a teenager’s maturity. This bill has changed when a teen can start preparing for their license, but the decision to start ultimately lies with the family and their needs.