California Regulatory Update

This blog post will be the first of periodic updates about regulatory changes from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that could impact your traffic violator school (TVS).

Traffic School Renewals

Remember that, in order to keep your school open and maintain your business, you must remain current with your occupational licensing.

Your TVS school/owner license and your TVS operator license must be renewed annually, directly through your dashboard via the DMV's Occupational Licensing Portal. Note that, as a condition of renewing an operator license, you must complete a 4-hour professional continuing education program (available at DMVOperatorCourse.com).

Traffic violator instructor (TVI) licenses must be renewed every three years. Note that, as a condition of renewing an instructor license, you must submit proof of participation in at least 18 hours of traffic safety/professional continuing education seminars or courses or pass a DMV-administered written exam. (TrafficSchoolInstructorCourse.com presents 6-hour online seminars, updated annually. Completing three of these over the term of a license would fulfill the continuing education requirement.)

One person may serve in all three of those positions for a school (owner/operator/instructor), but must fulfill all of the renewal requirements for all positions.

Business Office Review of TVS Records

As your traffic safety education curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) makes every effort to ensure that the materials we provide to you are accurate, up-to-date, and informative for you and your students.

As part of our ongoing efforts to assist you with your school's administrative needs, we strongly encourage you to continue checking the TSC Affiliate News blog and our email correspondence for helpful information.

With the subsidence of COVID and related restrictions, monitors from the California Traffic Safety Institute (CTSI), the DMV's designated regulatory agents, are out in the field conducting audits. Please make sure that you are in compliance with all regulations—including those updated by AB 708 (2019).

Especially remember:

• You must have your business hours posted at your school's office. The official traffic school business hours are (at a minimum) Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 4:00pm.
• Have your business hours posted on your website as well.
• Make sure that you have a knowledgeable person available in the office during business hours.
• Make sure that your classroom rosters, if you offer that modality, are in order.
• Please have the required records for the audit, including forms:
• TVCC 200X
• TVCC 201X
• OL 770
• OL 771
• If you must leave the office to run an errand, make sure that there is a sign posted with the date and time that you will return.

If you have any questions regarding TSC's affiliate program on the information above, please email Chris at chris@trafficeducation.net, or call 800 . 487 . 1699 from 7am – 2:30pm weekdays, for assistance.

Occupational Licensing Online Portal

Make sure to start your license
renewal application early—
especially if you're unfamiliar
with the new online system!

As your traffic safety education curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) works constantly to make sure you're informed of the latest happenings in our industry. We've previously published blog posts (here, and in a follow-up) about the transition by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to improved online services for occupational licensees and applicants. The new system has been operational for a few months now, and you are strongly encouraged to use it for fast, secure processing of your renewals and any other services that are offered via that portal.

A recent Occupational Licensing Industry News (OLIN) bulletin from DMV (OLIN 2023-03) adds some further details. In particular, remember:

• Before using online services, users need to create a new or have an existing MyDMV account and must validate their identity to connect to their OL information. User tips and step-by-step instructions are available at dmv.ca.gov/olonline and through OL team members who are ready to assist you at 916 . 229 . 3126.
• Temporary OLs for original and renewal applications will be issued digitally.
• The DMV plans further upcoming additions to their online OL portal.

As always, when assembling your license renewal, make sure to get started early to allow for complications—especially if you're not familiar with the new process!

Transition to the Cloud

As your traffic safety education curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) is constantly working to optimize the functionality and reliability of its information technology (IT) systems to ensure a premium experience for you and your students. In service of these efforts, we are currently transitioning our systems to a cloud computing service provider in the hopes of further improving access and availability.

The bulk of the transition has been completed, and we are anticipating finishing up the process in the next week or two. Our IT team performed extensive planning and testing prior to the start of this project, and we do not expect any service interruptions. However, should you experience any problems with your sites or services, from now through approximately March 17, please immediately alert us to the situation by calling 800-341-5554.

We thank you for your patience during this transition period, and look forward to delivering an improved traffic school experience!

New California Laws for 2023

 

A new year brings new traffic laws to California. Several new laws will take effect in 2023. As a provider of traffic safety and driver education in the state, you should familiarize yourself with these changes so you can provide proper education and assistance to your students.

Internet Curriculum Updated

As your curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) has already updated the instructional content of internet-based courses, and it is being presented to your students now. No further action is required for this modality.

Booklet Curriculum

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 issuing to a student does not have a 2023 copyright (see example picture), you must include a "booklet insert" (available for download from the CA Course Provider Administration website) with that student's materials.

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!

TVCC Currently Unresponsive

[UPDATE:] TVCC access was restored by the middle of the evening. Please remember to check your student records for rejections and resubmit those that did not go through!

As your traffic safety education curriculum services provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) is posting this communication to let you know that the Traffic Violator Course Completion (TVCC) database of the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is currently unresponsive to our online systems. This outage started at approximately 3:40 p.m. (PT) on January 23, 2023.

We will publish an update to this blog when the system is confirmed back online.

Remember to check your completion rejections for the affected time and resubmit via the CA Course Provider administrative website (login required). And remember that, if customers inquire, their actual completion time (as recorded by our administrative systems) is the time that will be reported to DMV; so long as they passed the course before their due date, their completion will be reported as valid.