David Liepold needed his driver’s license to drive to his summer job.

And he needed it quickly. So Liepold got his learner’s permit, took a driving course, and raced over to the driver’s licensing office for his license.

He got his first license about 15 minutes after finishing the course and about a month after getting his learner’s permit.

It’s a good job, says the Southeast High School junior. “Telemarketing, but they pay really well.”

But beginning next year, new teen drivers will not be able to squeeze all their driving practice into a few weeks.

Beginning in January, new drivers will have to have their learner’s permit at least six months before they can get that first license, the Provisional Operator’s Permit.

Many of the POP changes, which begin Jan. 1, 2008, have been widely publicized, according to Don Cunningham, traffic safety director with the Nebraska Safety Council.

But not the change that require teens to have a learner’s permit for six months, he said.

That one little sentence (in the new law) will have a big impact on people, Cunningham said.

More than 50 percent of the teens who take the Safety Council’s driver training class get their learner’s permit just before they take the class and then get their POP soon after they finish the class, said Cunningham.

Many don’t have the learner’s permit for six moths.

So teens who will be 16 on Jan. 1 or soon after need to get their learner’s permit now if they want to get a Provisional Operator’s Permit on their 16th birthday, said Sara O’Rourke, driver’s license administrator for the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The six-month requirement is intended to give teen drivers practice time before they begin driving alone, said O’Rourke.

The licensing system for teens is a tier system: first, driving experience with an adult on the learner’s permit and then driving alone but with some restrictions on the POP, she said.

That driving experience is important.

The graduated licensing system for new drivers is based on research which shows practice reduces crashes, said Fred Zwonechek, Nebraska Highway Safety administrator.

“That time behind the wheel will pay dividends in the long run,” he said.

The new law also requires teens not accumulate three points for driving infractions during the six months before applying for a POP, while they have the learner’s permit.

Other changes that will begin Jan. 1:

* A teen with a POP can have no more than one passenger under 19 years of age in the car who is not a family member during the first six months. 

* Teens with a POP cannot use a cell phone or other wireless communication devices while driving. 

* The 50 hours of driving time recorded on a log while the teen has a learner’s permit must include 10 hours of night driving. 

* A school permit expires three months after the 16th birthday, not on the birthday itself, which is current law.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.