Virginia Program for Driver Improvement Course (PDI) Details
The Virginia Program for Driver Improvement (PDI) course
has been developed by DTA to reduce traffic fatalities
and injuries on Virginia roadways by training drivers
in defensive driving strategies that have been proven
to reduce both crashes and violations among
course participants. Since 1977, millions of drivers
have benefited from the training they received in our
Program for Driver Improvement course.
Who Can Take the
PDI Course?
The PDI course can be taken by a driver who has been
ordered by a Virginia judge or court to attend a driver
improvement clinic for point or ticket dismissal. This
is also sometimes referred to as traffic school or defensive
driving school attendance. A Virginia driver can also
take the PDI course voluntarily for an automobile insurance
discount of up to 10%, or to accrue up to 5 safe driver
points on his or her Virginia license.
NOTE: Virginia law states that you
may not take an online driver improvement clinic if
you are under 20 years of age or hold a Commercial Driver's
License (CDL). Drivers who are under 20 years of age
may take the classroom version of the PDI course. Drivers
who hold a CDL must take the CMV
version of the course.
Other common names for this course include:
Court-Ordered Attendance
If you have been ordered by a court
to complete an 8-hour driver improvement course, you should
select this option when you register for the course. The
court will determine whether or not you are to receive
demerit points for your Virginia driver improvement clinic
attendance. If you are not sure whether or not you are
to receive demerit points, please check your court order
or call the court that ordered you to take the course.
NOTE: It is YOUR responsibility to find
out whether or not you are to receive points so that you
will select the correct reason for taking the course.
DMV-Ordered Attendance
If you have been ordered by the Virginia
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to complete an 8-hour
driver improvement clinic, you can select this option
when you register for the course. Most customers who select
this option will have received 12 demerit points (negative
points) on their driver license within a 12-month period,
or 18 points within a 24-month period. You can also select
this option if your license has been suspended by the
DMV for accumulation of too many points.
Voluntary Attendance
for Safe Driver Points
The Virginia DMV allows a driver
to voluntarily complete a driver improvement course in
order to have 5 safe driving points (positive points)
added to his or her driver license. These points are in
addition to the safe driver points a driver receives each
year for driving without committing any traffic violations.
If this is the reason for your course attendance, you
should select the "Safe Driver Points" option
when you register for the course.
Voluntary Attendance
for Insurance Discount
Virginia drivers might be able to
obtain a discount of up to 10% off their automobile insurance
premium by voluntarily completing the PDI course. In order
to find out if you are eligible to receive this discount,
please contact your automobile insurance provider.
What Does the PDI Course
Teach?
The PDI course teaches participants to use DTA's IPDE
(Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute) strategy to anticipate
traffic hazards and deal with them in ways that minimize
risk for the driver. Simulated traffic crash scenarios
are used to demonstrate how the IPDE strategy should be
used in situations such as a rear-end collision, a side-impact
collision, and a passing maneuver collision. Other course
topics include an overview of the highway transportation
system, the dangers of driving after drinking alcohol,
and how to respond properly in emergency driving situations.
DTA's PDI course is the only Virginia driver improvement
clinic that teaches students how to control their emotions
and attitudes through the understanding of the concept
of Attitude States. Using Dr. Eric Berne's groundbreaking
theory of Transactional Analysis (TA), the PDI course
teaches students that each of us has three Attitude States
-- Parent, Adult, and Child -- that constantly influence
our behavior. Learning how to identify these Attitude
States is the key to controlling them, which can be critical
during potentially hazardous activities such as driving
a motor vehicle. Students learn that by remaining in the
Adult Attitude State, they can reduce their chances of
being involved in a crash or of committing a traffic violation
that could result in a citation.
