• A student is eligible for their permit when they are 15 ½ in the state of Arizona and are required to hold a permit for a minimum of six months from the date of issue.
• We recommend that a student begin driving fundamentals simulation lab a few weeks before they are eligible for their permit.
• Our objective is to introduce more advanced skill sets as a student progresses through their program. Their lessons will be spread over the period of time they hold their permit.
• If your student comes to us with 30+ hours of driving experience, they are usually eligible for our Defensive Driving package.
• When starting in our Defensive Driving packages we recommend scheduling a student’s first on-road lesson to receive feedback on their skills and a plan to ready them for the defensive driving lab.

DrivingMBA trainers come from diverse backgrounds. We look for specialists that have the skills and passion for teaching. Several of our trainers have backgrounds in education and training.

State Requirements:

• MVD certified trainers (pass an MVD test to be certified by the state)
• Fingerprinted and required to have a background check done

DrivingMBA Requirements:

• Fullfill DrivingMBA’s 100+ training hours that consist of observations, co-training and evaluations
• Must pass a drug test
• Our trainers meet both state requirements and rigid DrivingMBA requirements based on National Standards.
• We also look for individuals that can empathize with a student and cater to a student’s specific learning style.

Trainers are evaluated several times a year by a DrivingMBA lead trainer to ensure they are meeting curriculum objectives and DrivingMBA’s standards of excellence.

DrivingMBA hires individuals who have a teaching background or have a strong propensity for teaching. In order to work with a student an individual must be able to develop a rapport and have the ability to recognize and adjust to a student’s specific needs. 

We have hired retired law enforcement personnel who are also excellent teachers. However, keep in mind that police officers are taught to be aggressive drivers in high-stress situations, so they are not always the best candidates to teach novice drivers. Our objective is to find well-rounded individuals who love working with students and can foster a productive learning environment.

We are open on Saturdays and some Sundays, depending on demand. Our Coaching Class and Car Maintenance classes are offered at least once a month, during the week, in the evening and some Saturday’s.*

Our Rules of the Road permit prep course, Responsibilities of Driving Class and Defensive Driving Orientation class are all available on-line.

*Our Coaching Class is currently completely on line due to COVID-19.

*Our Car Maintenance class is currently suspended due to COVID-19.

Our on-line Rules of the Road Permit Prep Course is available for any student that needs help preparing for the written test. It is a comprehensive, interactive review of the Rules of the Road with quizzes in every level.

The Responsibilities of Driving Class is designed to help students understand the magnitude of responsibility they take on when they operate a motor vehicle. This class is mandatory for students to complete before they begin their defensive driving lab.

The Coaching Class is highly recommended for any parent or guardian that has a student at DrivingMBA. It helps us level expectations and work together to prepare your teenager to become a safe and responsible driver. This class is mandatory if DrivingMBA is providing a waiver for the test at the MVD for license skills test.

The Online Orientation to Defensive Driving Class is a precursor to our Defensive Driving Simulation lab. It provides students with the framework of concepts in Hazard Recognition, Vehicle Handling, Space and Speed Management. These are the four key areas we’ve used to develop the scenarios in the Defensive Driving Lab. This class is mandatory before they begin their defensive driving.

The Car Maintenance Class is optional and available in several of our packages.

Getting a driver’s license is a major milestone in a teen’s life, but it also marks the deadliest period they will ever spend, statistically, on the highway. How do we prepare them for the crowded roads and aggressive drivers who can make driving dangerous and deadly?

DrivingMBA’s unique instruction model utilizes state-of-the-art driving simulators where a student can experience the impact of split-second decisions while behind the wheel, and the consequences of delayed reactions or responses, in a safe and controlled environment.  In a virtual vehicle, a teen can drive in rain, sleet, snow or dead of night, on winding mountain roads and frenetic superhighways. Mistakes can and will frequently result in crashes, but the effect is a learning experience, not a tragedy

The Learning Pyramid  tells us that students retain only a small percentage of information while being lectured to or while reading to themselves. The average learning retention goes up when a skill is being demonstrated to them, and it jumps even higher when students discuss information that they have learned. However, the greatest retention occurs when a student is actually practicing a skill, in this case the average learning retention is 75%.

Simulation is used in all types of industries to train employees, and is a critical step in pilot and often in military and police training.

Why wouldn’t simulation be a useful tool in learning how to drive? An instructor can have their full attention on a student while on a simulator. On the road, the instructor’s focus is split between the student and the road ahead in order to keep the student and themselves out of harms way.

The point of simulation is to give students hands-on instruction, without the risk of actually being on the road. Our equipment is state of the art technology, they are not video games. Think of it as the same principle that is used in teaching pilots how to fly an airplane. While our competitors will make a point to tell you they “don’t use simulation,” the question I would ask is why? A student can develop significant skill before ever being on the road. Why wouldn’t you start there? I have had instructors that have worked for other schools and they are always amazed at how much more skilled and prepared a student coming out of the Driving Fundamentals lab is vs. a student that is going on the road for the first time or if they have driven with their parent. You can put students in all types of situations that simply cannot be duplicated on a closed course and certainly not on the road. Pilots learn to fly a plane in simulators before they ever get into a cockpit, doctors and nurses are trained on simulators before working on real patients, truck drivers and many professional drivers learn on simulators, so why not for the novice driver? The use of simulation is a widely used form of training and a highly effective tool in the learning process. DrivingMBA utilizes a comprehensive approach to develop driving skills, good driving understanding and critical decision-making skills that are required to navigate today’s roadways. The simulation labs are at the core of our training model.

If a student completes 10 hours of on-road instruction, DrivingMBA will administer the skills evaluation. If the student passes the evaluation their instructor will indicate that the student passed in their MVDNow Account while the student and parent are still in our office. This will waive the test at the MVD. 

DrivingMBA, however, does not offer on-road lessons without accompanying simulation labs. It is our overarching philosophy that students are able to develop skills in the simulation labs in a safe and controlled environment first, before heading out on the road. 

Since Arizona now allows teens to take their written test for the permit exam at home, there has not been a demand for permit classes. Anyone under the age of 18 can take the test at home. You can find out more by visiting ADOT Permit Tests @ Home webpage.

We have developed an on-line course to provide students with information to help them form the necessary habits to prepare for the written test, either at home or at the MVD.

There are no time restrictions for adults 18 and older. But to drive with a DrivingMBA instructor you must have a current permit. We also recommend that ANY novice driver, no matter what their age, spend a minimum of six months to develop the necessary skills to navigate today’s roadways.

Most insurance agencies do accept our program certification. However, the discounted rate is at the discretion of each individual company. Other schools indicate that “you will” get an insurance break, and that may or may not be true. Our recommendation is that you contact your insurance agent to find out what they require in order to receive a discount. 

At the completion of our driving program, your teen will receive a certificate that you can send into your insurance company to verify they have been through the driving program. If your insurance company requires any additional information, please have them contact us directly.

We highly recommend this class for ALL of our parents, guardians or anyone that will be practicing with the novice driver. no matter if your student is receiving a waiver or not. When parents take the time to attend this class, the entire experience for the student is much more effective.

The parent/coach plays a critical role in the process of learning how to drive. Our coaching class is a critical component of our program and is an opportunity for the parent/coach to learn how they can support their new driver throughout the process.

Research shows that teenagers are safer drivers when parents are more involved in their driver education and the CDC has recently issued new research that teenagers take less risks and are safer drivers when a parent is in the car. The Coaching Class is mandatory if a student is testing with DrivingMBA to waive the MVD test.We have been running parent classes for years and the feedback is always extremely positive. Yes, it is a time commitment, but it is an investment in your child’s safety.

DrivingMBA’s unique blend of classroom, simulation and on-road instruction can be customized to meet an individual’s learning needs.

DrivingMBA is the only driving school in the valley with full-time specialists on staff with extensive experience working with Exceptional Learners in the classroom.

Exceptional Learners who come to DrivingMBA begin the program with individual, 1:1 lessons in the Driving Fundamentals Simulation Lab. This format helps the student begin the process of learning to drive in a safe and controlled environment, and allows our instructors to assess the best course of action and curriculum for the student’s success. In some cases the student may not have reached the necessary level of maturity to begin the driving education process. In those cases, we will provide parents with preparation and pre-work that can be used to help better prepare the student for the process of learning how to drive. It is our practice to work closely with the parents of all of our students, and it is of paramount importance that parents of students with learning challenges come into this process knowing they play a significant role.

There is a great deal of research about students with challenges like ADD and ADHD and driving. These students are much more likely to be involved in a crash than “typical” teen students. We have experience working with students with all types of disorders and diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Anxiety, Bi-polar, OCD, Dyslexia and many others. Our instructors and staff are continually researching and learning about mental health challenges and exceptional learners in order to best meet the needs of these students. There are a lot of schools that purport they “work with students with special needs.” That doesn’t mean they know how to differentiate instruction and adapt to the student’s learning style. Only trained Specialists know how to truly work with these students.