Curriculum Update for 2019

As noted in a previous post on this blog, Michigan's Driver Responsibility Fee (DRF) program is being terminated, effective October 1, 2019.

In preparation for this imminent change, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) has updated all modalities (Internet- and classroom-based) of its Michigan Basic Driver Improvement Course (BDIC) curriculum. Per direction from the Department of State (DoS), now-irrelevant DRF information has been excised from the course and will no longer be presented to BDIC students.

TSC has already updated the Internet-based curriculum, and your students are using it now. No further action is required for this modality.

For complete information on this topic, visit the DoS web page for Driver Responsibility, and see especially this publication (PDF) from the DoS.

Updating Student Info for the Clerk of Courts E-Filing Portal

If a student's completion is rejected by the
Clerk of Courts E-Filing Portal, you may need to
enter their correct information into ASAP™.

The Clerk of Courts has implemented, effective July 23, 2019, a new e-filing portal that accesses data from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) system so the courts can process Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) course completions.

When processing BDI student completions in the ASAP™ management system, please make sure that you have collected and entered the correct…

• first name,
• last name,
• date of birth,
• driver's license number,
• citation number, and
• county of citation.

In the event that incorrect information has been provided, the Clerk of Courts E-Filing Portal will email a rejection notice, which we will forward to you. You will be responsible for obtaining the correct information from the student, as necessary, and for entering the correct information back into that student's original class record. When updating a student's information, make sure to assign a new seal so that DHSMV's system will be updated. Once the DHSMV's system is updated with the correct information, it will automatically update the Clerk of Courts E-Filing Portal. Please make these corrections in the ASAP™ system within three (3) business days of notification. (Rejection emails for the Clerk of Court E-Filing Portal must be resolved within a five-day period, or a student's record could be negatively impacted—possibly resulting in a license revocation.) You will be charged for the issuance of the second seal when correcting a student's information in ASAP™/the DHSMV's system.

If you have any questions about these new procedures, please contact Donna at the Florida office at 800 . 252 . 9951.

Florida Curriculum Update for 2019

Recognizing that texting behind the wheel presents a serious safety hazard, Florida has enhanced its texting-while-driving ban, effective July 1, 2019.

In order to ensure that traffic safety students are getting the latest and most accurate information—and staying safe behind the wheel—Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., has updated its Internet-based programs to account for this change. Further, inserts for the booklet and video/DVD modalities are provided via links below; please include a copy of this insert sheet with each product that you ship, in addition to any other applicable inserts. Classroom instructors, meanwhile, should familiarize themselves with the new law and include this revised material when presenting similar information during class. (Flipcharts/slide presentations, workbooks, and all testing materials remain unchanged.)

The Details of the New Law

Florida's texting-while-driving ban is as follows:

It is against the law to operate a motor vehicle while manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols, or other characters into a wireless communications device, or while sending or reading non-voice communications (text, email, instant message, etc.). Further, a person may never use any wireless communications device in a handheld manner while operating a motor vehicle in a designated school crossing, school zone, or work zone area. These prohibitions do not apply to communications with law enforcement/emergency services or to emergency/weather/traffic alerts, or to a device used for vehicle operation, navigation, or radio broadcasts. This is a primary enforcement infraction, and conviction for a first offense is a non-moving traffic violation with base fine of $30 (plus local fees). A second conviction within five years is treated as a moving violation with base fine of $60 (plus local fees) and three points on the license.
(Florida Statues 316.305, 316.306)

(Note: Effective July 1, 2019, enforcement of the existing texting-while-driving ban is changed from a secondary offense to a primary offense; effective October 1, 2019, drivers are prohibited from using a handheld wireless communications device while driving in a designated school crossing, school zone, or work zone area. From October 1 to December 31, 2019, law enforcement officers may provide a verbal or written warning and beginning January 1, 2019, may issue a uniform traffic citation for a violation.)

Curriculum Materials

Please click on the links below to access the files you need. You may read/print them online or download them to you local computer for easy access whenever you need them.

• BDI insert - English
• BDI insert - Spanish
• Classroom Lesson Plan materials
• TLSAE: Incorporate this new material under the section "Dangerous Distractions" in "Chapter 5: Florida Traffic Laws" (under the header "Inside-the-Vehicle Distractions").
• BDI: Incorporate this new material at the end of the section "Distracted Drivers Have a Bad Attitude" in "Unit 4: Driver Psychology" (under the header "Cell Phones: Dial 'C' for Collision!").
• ADI: Incorporate this new material in the section "Distractions, Distractions" in Unit 4.

Remember that these revisions are applicable to all modalities of these programs.

Please make sure that you ship the latest home study inserts and discuss this material in class, as you will be responsible for teaching this new material to students!

Repeated Curriculum Content "Non-Compliant" Ratings

A number of you have recently been the victims of multiple write-ups from the Department of Motor Vehicles's (DMV) regulatory monitoring agency, the California Traffic Safety Institute (CTSI), for "non-compliant" issues with your traffic violator school (TVS) curriculum.

As your curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) takes great care to ensure that all of the materials licensed from us are of the highest quality. This diligence is even more critical when it comes to traffic safety curriculum content, as the information we provide to students could literally make the difference between a safe trip and a citation or collision!

The recent and repeated "non-compliant" ratings pertaining to alcohol-/marijuana-related information presented in the course are a result of multiple, uncommunicated changes to the TVS curriculum content requirements since the beginning of this year. (Some of you may note that you have a recent monitoring report stating, "At the original time of the report all aspects of the cannabis laws needed in a course hadn't been confirmed. It has been determined that vehicle code section 23222…must be included reference the open container requirements for these products, please add the information." [sic]) As monitoring reports have come in and been brought to our attention, TSC has been actively working with DMV and CTSI to keep abreast of these evolving requirements and to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

It should be noted that DMV has repeatedly made clear that, under no circumstances, is a TVS that licenses another's curriculum responsible for that curriculum content. Indeed, monitoring reports issued by CTSI explicitly state that, while a school is responsible for correcting all other non-compliant issues noted in a report, "[t]he program owner is responsible for updating the course." CTSI has indicated that they include all non-compliant issues in each monitoring report to maintain a record. However, curriculum licensees will not be held accountable for maintaining/updating the curriculum content.

As TSC representatives have explained in the past, your response to any monitoring report's "non-compliant" rating regarding curriculum content should be: "This school licenses its curriculum from another provider, and has no control over the content of the curriculum materials. Please refer any curriculum non-compliant issues to our provider."

Note: The internet-based program is up-to-date with the latest approved content at the time of this article's publication, and any new books ordered in the near future should be the latest edition. A classroom Lesson Plan with the latest revisions is, as with yearly curriculum updates, available for download via the CA Course Provider administrative website (login required).

TVS Booklet Student Materials – Instruction Sheet

A quick reminder for schools offering the traffic violator school (TVS) booklet modality:

Please be sure that the materials you are mailing to students includes the quiz/final exam forms and an instruction sheet (first page) that has been customized with the name of your school!

A customizable template for the instruction sheet (Microsoft Word format) is available for download from the CA Course Provider administrative website (login required), on the booklet materials download page. You must customize this document when the name and contact information for your school and include that sheet with the materials that you mail to students who are taking your booklet modality TVS course.

Remember also that, unless the copyright notice at the bottom of the Table of Contents page of the booklet is for the curret year, you must also include a "New Laws" insert!

New California Laws for 2019

A new year brings new traffic laws to California. Several new laws will take effect in 2019. As a provider of traffic safety education in the state, you should familiarize yourself with these changes so you can provide proper education and assistance to your students.

Internet Curriculum Update

As your curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) has already updated the Internet-based curriculum, and your students are using it now. No further action is required for this modality.

Booklet Curriculum Update

Those of you who are offering the home study booklet must ensure that you are providing students with updated curriculum materials. Download from the CA Course Provider administrative website (login required) the latest final exam forms and answer keys, available now, and begin using those immediately.

The copyright notice is at the
bottom of the Table of Contents page.

The next order of books that you receive from TSC will be the latest edition. You may continue to use "old" booklets from your inventory. However, if the bottom of the Table of Contents page of a book that you are sending to a student does not have a 2019 copyright (see example picture), you must include a "booklet insert" (available for download from the CA Course Provider Administration website) in the packet.

Make sure that you ship the latest versions of the home study booklet (or include an insert) and testing materials, as you will be responsible for teaching/testing students on this new material!

Classroom Curriculum

Those of you who are delivering classroom instruction must ensure that you are teaching students the updated curriculum. Download the electronic files from the CA Course Provider administrative website (login required) for the latest Lesson Plan updates, Safe Driving Journal (student and instructor versions), and final exam forms/answer keys. The files are available now, and you should begin using the updated materials immediately.

Make sure that you and/or any instructors you employ are explaining the new laws to students and distributing the latest versions of the classroom materials, as you will be responsible for teaching/testing students on this new material!