Cars can be dangerous objects. When a few thousand pounds of metal is propelled down streets and highways at relatively high rates of speed, the potential for damage and injury is enormous. The Arizona Legislature recognized this fact when it enacted our mandatory auto insurance law.
Although mandatory insurance applies to everyone, lawmakers have expressed additional concern for the special problems associated with minors driving cars. A minor is anyone under age 18.
At the age of 15 years and 7 months, a minor may be issued an instruction permit for limited driving privileges. At 16, most minors are eligible to obtain a driver’s license.
Because of their legal status as children, drivers who have not reached their 18th birthday present problems regarding financial responsibility for injury and other harm they cause while driving.
For this reason, our laws impose an added condition on minors who apply for instruction permits and driver’s licenses.
Before a license or permit will be issued to anyone under age 18, the child’s parents or legal guardians generally must sign the license application. If the parents are divorced, only the parent who has custody of the child must sign. If divorced parents have joint custody, one parent must sign.
Under appropriate circumstances, foster parents and employers may sign, and for instruction permits only, an approved driver training instructor may sign.
The signing requirement is not without legal effect. The signers will be held jointly liable with the minor for any injuries and damages the child may cause while driving. This legal obligation creates a powerful incentive for parents to exercise control over their children and buy auto insurance to cover them. A signer’s liability may be met by filing with the motor vehicle division proof of this insurance coverage.
An adult who signs a minor’s license application may withdraw his or her consent to the license later. In this case, the child’s driver’s license will be canceled and the signer will be relieved from further liability for damages and personal injury created by the signing requirement. They still may be liable for other legal reasons, however.
Whether your children drive is your decision—exercise it prudently.