Does an under-age driver 'note' to police really work in California

[Al Schmidt]

My kid insists that an underage kid can drive a much younger sibling
directly to and from school, if they have a signed note from the parents
giving permission.

Interestingly, the lady at the school who provided the parking permit
said kids do it all the time; and, the DMV counterperson where my kid
obtained the license after passing the test also shrugged her shoulders
and confirmed that it "supposedly works".

Yet, I can't imagine a note from parents allowing anyone to skirt the
law, which makes exceptions only for medical emergencies, employment, and
"school-authorized" activities (signed by the principal).

I guess "going" to school is a "school-authorized activity", but even so,
it needs to be "signed by the principal", and, well, in this case, both a
grade school and a high school (in the same district) is involved.

But what would a principle know about your need to get to school?

Do people really do this and does it carry the weight of law?
If so, how would you word the note?
Would you have it signed by the high-school or grade-school principal?

[jgar the jorrible]

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/teenweb/dl_btn2/q_and_a.htm
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d06/vc12814_6.htm

It would only make a difference if the police stopped someone, don't
you think? Then it would be officer discretion. A bunch of spray
cans under the seat might cause some ignoring of notes.

(Nannyware removed alt.law.enforcement)

jg
--
@home.com is bogus.
http://www.10news.com/news/chp-says-man-questioned-in-sr-52-road-rage-incident03062013

[Al Schmidt]

jgar the jorrible wrote on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:41:26 -0800:
> https://www.dmv.ca.gov/teenweb/dl_btn2/q_and_a.htm
> http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d06/vc12814_6.htm

Now that's interesting!

Your first link:
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/teenweb/dl_btn2/q_and_a.htm
Had MORE exclusions than the link I was reading from the same site!
"Necessity of family member including yourself, when adequate
transportation facilities are unavailable and you need personal
transportation or to transport a family member. You must carry a
signed statement by a parent/legal guardian verifying the reason
you must drive and the probable date the necessity will end."

I had been looking here:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffdl19.htm
Which only excepted:
- medical
- school (signed by principal)
- employment
- immediate need
- emancipated minor

I see now that your description of "immediate need" is much longer
than what I had seen, which is only this:
"Immediate need of family member: The note must be signed by your
parent or legal guardian, and include the reason and probable
date the necessity will end."

I guess if we (arbitrarily?) combine "school" with "immediate need",
then it's legal (and doesn't need a principal's signature).

[Al Schmidt]

jgar the jorrible wrote on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:41:26 -0800:

> It would only make a difference if the police stopped someone, don't you
> think? Then it would be officer discretion. A bunch of spray cans
> under the seat might cause some ignoring of notes.

Another bit of information.

I called the California CHP today 1-800-8355-247 and spoke with an
Officer Benson.

He said he had given two tickets to kids driving with kids, but
in both his cases, there was no note (one was driving a sibling around,
while the other was driving another minor to the zoo).

He thought my situation applied to the school principal signature note
more so than the family member "necessity" situation.

We went over the actual law, which is written slightly differently
than the words on the web page, but the keywords appear to be the
lack of "reasonable transportation" alternatives. There was absolutely
no definition for "reasonable transportation" but one might be, he
said, if you had to work and couldn't pick up the kids from school.

He did say that the law doesn't state anything about what the principal
of the school is supposed to verify. When I contacted the grade school,
they said they had never signed such a note before.

BTW, I'm not exactly sure what the 'spray cans' indicate?

[jgar the jorrible]

On Mar 6, 8:52 pm, Al Schmidt <as...@notforspam.com> wrote:
> jgar the jorrible wrote on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:41:26 -0800:
>
> > It would only make a difference if the police stopped someone, don't you
> > think?  Then it would be officer discretion.  A bunch of spray cans
> > under the seat might cause some ignoring of notes.

>

> BTW, I'm not exactly sure what the 'spray cans' indicate?

Just an example of where officers might use their discretion to throw
any law they have at the kids, rather than just writing a contact
card. Not a good example, just the first that came to mind. Did you
happen to ask Officer Benson what caused the kids to be pulled over?

jg
--
@home.com is bogus.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-reals-marcelo-fined-driving-without-valid-licence-162245200--sow.html

[Al Schmidt]

jgar the jorrible wrote on Thu, 07 Mar 2013 09:57:33 -0800:

> Did you happen to ask Officer Benson what caused the
> kids to be pulled over?

No. He pretty much said it in passing meaning that he didn't
have much experience in it - so that's why he pulled the codes
and we went, line by line, through the vehicle code.

The kids do tell me they don't like the school parking sticker
on their cars because they think the police 'target' them.