Driver's License Test Prep
Texas Practice Licensing Process

A 17-year-old with a parent or guardian who has custody is applying for a Texas driver license. Under Texas law, who must sign the application under oath?

  1. A.
    The applicant's employer
  2. B.
    A licensed driving instructor
  3. C.
    The parent or guardian with custody Correct
  4. D.
    A notary public at any bank
The Why

The answer is "The parent or guardian with custody"

A minor's application must be signed under oath by the parent or guardian with custody. The employer or county judge signs only if no guardian exists, which is why the prompt sets that condition aside. Choice A tempts readers who read the fallback line as the main rule, since "employer" is named right there and the "if there is not a guardian" condition is easy to skim past.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. The applicant's employer

The manual names the employer only as a fallback signer when there is no guardian. With a custodial parent or guardian available, that person is the required signer, not the employer. This answer picks 'employer' as the sturdy adult stand-in for a working teen and misses that the manual reaches for the employer only when no guardian is available.

B. A licensed driving instructor

Driving instructors have no signing role on the sworn application. Only the parent or guardian with custody signs, with the employer or county judge available as a fallback when no guardian exists. This answer carries over the driver-education instructor's course-completion certificate from the classroom file and mistakes it for the sworn parental consent the application itself requires.

D. A notary public at any bank

The rule names who must sign the application, not who witnesses the signature. A notary can administer an oath, but the manual specifies the parent or guardian with custody as the required signer. This answer reads 'signed, under oath' as shorthand for notarization and reaches for the nearest notary, confusing who administers the oath with who the manual requires to take it.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Licensing Process in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Chapter 1: Your License to Drive (Minors)," p.7..

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