The Common Law

I am 15 and play football for my high school. I am dyslexic which causes me to have to go to a lot of tutoring for extra help and I have a lot of other commitments outside of school. It's hard for my parents to be able to take me to all of those things because my dad works full time and travels a lot for work so it leaves everything up to my mom, which is a struggle for her because I also have a brother she takes care of too and she has things she has to do too. Am I eligible for a hardship driver's license?

Probably not. Legal driving age in Texas is 16. But as a 15-year-old, it's possible to qualify for a "hardship" license (also known as a minor's restricted driver's license) if at least one of the following four circumstances exists:

(1) an unusual economic hardship for the 15-year-old's family;

(2) a death-related emergency in the immediate family (close family member has recently died, and the 15-year-old must drive to carry on normal household routines);

(3) sickness, illness, or disability of a family member (typically one that requires the 15-year-old to drive the family member to medical treatment or to carry out other normal household routines); or

(4) the 15-year-old is enrolled in a vocational educational program.

None of the above criteria seem to fit your situation. The criterion requiring unusual economic hardship provides the most discretion, so that may be your best option when trying to seek approval (assuming the other three criteria don't apply). However, even this will be difficult because the Texas Hardship Driver License Card Application specifically states (in all caps and bolded), "TRAVEL TO PARTICIPATE IN SCHOOL ACTIVITIES SUCH AS BAND, SPORTS, ETC. WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED A SUFFICIENT REASON TO ESTABLISH AN UNUSUAL ECONOMIC HARDSHIP."

In addition to meeting all the requirements for a hardship license, the applicant must also complete all components of a state-approved driver education course and pass the skills examination.