A new law in Illinois is making it mandatory for driving school teachers to educate students about the proper protocol when being pulled over by a police officer.
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed the law into effect on Friday and State Senator Julie Morrison is hopeful that it will help prevent things from getting out of hand with police in the event that one of the students are pulled over. “My hope is that if we uniformly require that driver’s education include the protocol and what is expected when you interact with a police officer that things will not escalate,” Morrison told ABC Chicago.
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The overall purpose of the law is to arm new, young drivers with knowledge that will potentially prevent them from panicking or doing things that police may view as “red flags” during a traffic stop. Students enrolled in driving school classes in the state will be required to pass the portion of the test that instructs them on the dos and don’ts of being pulled over before they can get behind the wheel.
The new driver’s education curriculum is set to be put in place in time for the 2017-2018 school year.