Tuesday, October 17, 2023

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.