DrivingMBA has been participating in an effort with ADOT/MVD to adopt standards for driver training in this state. Driver training is a regulated industry in most states and often with that regulation come standards. However, up to now, the standards for Arizona have been “non-existent” and auditing was centered around forms and reporting, not on what the schools were or were not teaching. As of October 2012 all private schools were no longer allowed to provide the written or skills test because there was corruption in the system. This effort may afford those schools who choose to comply with the new standards and new rules being developed the opportunity to test again. All of these changes are scheduled to go into effect in July 2014.

The norm for standards in most states is 30 hours of classroom, a minimum of 10 hours of on-road instruction and 100 hours of logged practice. This would be a significant undertaking for most schools as the model is usually 8 hours or less of classroom instruction and 6 hours of on-road instruction. DrivingMBA currently offers a package that does closely align with national standards that are being used as a model for Arizona. High schools that still offer driver’s ed have standards that are a subset of the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA) standards. The standards the state is considering for private schools are far more robust than those adopted by the Department of Education in Arizona.

No matter what the outcome of this effort, driver training in Arizona and around the country needs to be better than it is. Young people are being licensed without adequate preparation for the realities of our roadways. As parents, make sure you do your research about this topic. Remember your child’s life is at stake.