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Committee adopts work-zone safety training for driver education, effective 2027
Summary
The conference committee adopted language requiring work-zone safety be taught in driver education and added to the driver's license exam; the requirement will apply to exams on or after Jan. 1, 2027.
The Transportation Conference Committee adopted a senate-only provision requiring vehicle work-zone safety training be incorporated into Minnesota’s driver education curriculum and into the driver's license examination, with an effective date for exams on or after Jan. 1, 2027.
Senator Johnson Stewart, who carried the senate language, described the provision as a way to make construction work zones safer for both workers and drivers. Testimony before the committee included personal accounts from people who work behind construction barricades and data advocates cited about the scope of the problem: one witness said Minnesota recorded 49 work-zone deaths and 3,682 injuries, and that the state's work-zone fatality rate is above the national average.
Construction-trades and industry witnesses urged the committee to adopt the measure. Tom Dicklage of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council said work-zone crashes are a “matter of life and death” for workers; Laura Ziegler of the Associated General Contractors and Brian McDaniel of the Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association likewise urged adoption and highlighted the mental-health and safety impacts of highway construction.
Committee counsel specified the narrow statutory lines the committee adopted: rather than adopting an entire statutory section wholesale, the conference committee adopted the specific lines in the senate language that add work-zone safety to what must be taught on driver examinations and accepted a delayed effective date to allow incorporation into the driver's manual and curriculum updates. Staff said the effective date after the required rule- and curriculum-updates will be Jan. 1, 2027; the motion carried by voice vote.
Why it matters: lawmakers and contractors said driver education is a way to reduce dangerous driving behaviors in work zones and to protect construction workers. Senator Johnson Stewart, a former road-worker herself, described firsthand observations of safety risks near paving and concrete operations.
Next steps: MnDOT and the driver-examining authority will incorporate work-zone material into the driver's manual and driver-education curricula ahead of the 2027 effective date.
