O.C.G.A. §40-5-22(a) requires that any person under 18 years of age complete the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program (ADAP) in order to obtain a Georgia driver’s license.

Chapter 1: Teenage and Adult Driver Resposibility Act (TADRA)

• TADRA is an acronym for Georgia’s Teenage and Adult Driver Responsibility Act.
• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group. Seven teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries.
• Since January 1, 2007, pursuant to SB 226 (“Joshua’s Law”), in order to obtain a Provisional License (Class D) at 16 years of age, proof is required of having completed an approved driver training course consisting of at least 30 hours of theoretical instruction (classroom or virtual) and 6 hours of practical behind-the-wheel instruction (instructor or parent taught).
• During the first 6 months following issuance of a Provisional License (Class D), only immediate family members may ride in the vehicle.
• The term “immediate family member” includes, “the license holder’s parents and step-parents, grandparents, siblings and step-siblings, children, and any other person who resides at the license holder’s residence.”
• In Georgia, persons under 21 years of age are presumed to be DUI, in violation of O.C.G.A. 40-6-391(k)(1), if they are operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .02 or greater.
• Refusal to submit to state-administered chemical tests of your blood, breath, urine, or other bodily substances for the purpose of determining if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs will result in the suspension of your Georgia driver’s license or privilege to drive on the highways of this state for a minimum period of 1 year for each refusal.

Chapter 2: Traffic Laws and Safe Driving

• Safety belts have proven to be the most effective occupant protection in all types of vehicle crashes.
• O.C.G.A. §40-8-76.1 requires that each occupant of the front seat of a passenger vehicle, while such passenger vehicle is being operated on a public road, street, or highway of this state, be restrained by a seat safety belt.
• In Georgia, the term “passenger vehicle” means every motor vehicle, including, but not limited to, pickup trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles designed to carry 15 passengers or fewer and used for the transportation of persons.
• The fatal crash rate of teenage drivers 16-19 years of age is about four times as high at night.
• Two or more peer passengers more than triples the risk of a fatal crash with a teen behind the wheel.
• Maintaining at least a 3-second space margin between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you not only provides you with visibility, time, and space to help avoid rear-end crashes, but also allows you to steer or brake out of danger at moderate speeds.
• The Hands-Free Georgia Act (O.C.G.A. §40-6-241) prohibits the use of hand held devices while driving a motor vehicle.

Chapter 3: Alcohol and Drug Awareness

• Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs in the world. It is used by young people in the United States more often than tobacco or illicit drugs.
• The minimum legal drinking age in Georgia is 21.
• Marijuana continues to be the most commonly used illicit drug among youth in the United States.
• House Bills 199 and 1309 (2010) outlaw the sale and possession of “bath salts” and K2, a substance more commonly referred to as “synthetic marijuana,” and marketed as incense. Senate Bill 370 (2012) bans all forms of synthetic marijuana in the State of Georgia.
• In Georgia, pursuant to O.C.G.A. §40-5-75, the driver’s license of any person convicted of driving or being in actual physical control of any moving vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance or marijuana shall be suspended by operation of law.