{"id":311,"date":"2009-04-09T09:10:40","date_gmt":"2009-04-09T15:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drivertrainingassociates.com\/blog\/?p=311"},"modified":"2011-10-26T10:59:04","modified_gmt":"2011-10-26T16:59:04","slug":"traffic-schools-are-not-run-by-the-dmv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drivertrainingassociates.com\/blog\/traffic-schools-are-not-run-by-the-dmv\/","title":{"rendered":"Traffic Schools Are NOT Run by the DMV"},"content":{"rendered":"

“You mean this isn’t the DMV?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

That’s a question we hear quite a bit at Driver Training Associates.\u00a0 So why do people think that we’re the DMV?\u00a0 It must be because we provide traffic school, driver education, and license reinstatement courses.\u00a0 We’re not exactly sure why so many people assume that traffic schools and other similar programs are run by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, but hopefully this article will set the record straight on that subject.<\/p>\n

It is important to understand that when you take a traffic school course, driver improvement clinic, or defensive driving course, you are paying and receiving the information from a private company, not a state or governmental agency. There are a few not-for-profit agencies offering courses, but the bottom line is that it is not the State which is providing the course. In most cases, State DMV’s or other regulatory bodies approve the traffic school courses and sometimes monitor the activities of the private companies that offer them, but these entities do not offer the courses themselves.<\/p>\n

In order for an online traffic school<\/strong> course to be approved by the State or DMV, it must be no less than the state-mandated minimum time and must contain some form of security (such as personal identity questions). Courses must also include a final exam (either online or proctored), and student completions must be electronically reported to the state agency by the course provider. Many other requirements also apply and differ from state to state.<\/p>\n

For classroom traffic school<\/strong> courses, the instructors must be properly certified and recertified, the course curriculum must be presented as it was approved by the State, completions must be electronically reported to the DMV or other appropriate state agency, etc.<\/p>\n

The private companies that offer traffic school courses are often called “providers,” “vendors,” or “sponsors.”\u00a0 These companies have written their own courses and have received approval from the state DMV or other regulatory agency.\u00a0 If you visit an official State DMV website, you can often find a listing of approved traffic school, insurance discount, or drivers ed providers.<\/p>\n