New Driver Education Requirements

As your curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) is always striving to remain aware of the latest developments in the industry—and to keep you updated on those trends as well. Today, we write regarding changes to the law that were recently passed by the Florida Legislature (SB 994, 2025) and that take effect on July 1, 2025.

Under the provisions of these pending changes, the Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education (TLSAE) course is now required only for driver license applicants who are 18 years of age and older and who have never been licensed in another jurisdiction. A new course, the Driver Education Traffic Safety (DETS) course is required for learner's driver license applicants who are under the age of 18 years.

The upshot of this is that a TLSAE course completed on July 1 or later will no longer fulfill the education requirements for a learner's driver license for prospective drivers ages 15 – 17. And, unfortunately, there does not currently exist a DETS course that is approved by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV).

TSC has been in contact with FLHSMV and is working furiously to develop a course that meets the requirements of the new curriculum and will be able to pass FLHSMV review. Hopefully we will have one of—if not the—first such course in the state of Florida. Nonetheless, this is an entirely new program that will need to go through the FLHSMV assessment process.

In the meantime, you can, for the next few weeks, continue to offer the TLSAE course to younger license candidates. However, we recommend that you ensure that only older students are registered for any TLSAE classes you conduct after June 2025. As things currently stand, TLSAE completions on July 1 or later will no longer satisfy the education requirements for applicants for a learner's driver license who are under the age of 18.

TSC is working to update the text and functionality of all of its managed websites to reflect this new information. If you manage your own website, you will be responsible for presenting the new information to your students.

We are continuing to work through the details of this sudden development with FLHSMV and will, of course, keep you informed of any updates to the situation. If you have any questions, you may contact the Driver Education, Process Improvement, and Accountability Office at 850 . 617 . 2598 or email Driver-Education@flhsmv.gov. Donna in our Florida office (800 . 252 . 9951 or email donna@trafficeducation.net) will also be available to help as best we can.

TVS Student Identity Validation Improved

As your curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) is always working to simplify and improve the educational experience for you and your students.

Ensuring the integrity of the course completion process should be a top priority for traffic violator schools (TVSs), and part of that mandate is ensuring that the violator is the actual person completing the course. At the direction of regulatory authorities, this has traditionally been accomplished by asking a series of ten open-ended “Personal Identification” questions during the registration process and again throughout the course. Answers given later in the process must match those provided upon registration or the student's account is invalidated.

Because of the open-ended nature of the questions, however, this process has caused a great deal of frustration for students and extra administrative work for schools. TSC has, therefore, consulted with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and been given the approval to revise our identity validation procedures. Going forward, the security questions presented to students will require simple "Yes" or "No" answers. This upgrade is designed to reduce identity validation issues and make things smoother for everyone.

Internet Curriculum

TSC will deploy the updated course delivery system functionality for internet-based courses on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, and students will follow the new procedures from that date. No further action is required on your part for this modality.

Booklet Curriculum

The registration process for booklet students will be updated on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, and new registrants will follow the new procedures from that date. You must make sure that you are shipping the revised booklet student forms to students who register from that time. The latest files are now available for download from the CA Course Provider administrative website (login required). (If you are using your own reservation system for booklet students, please update the identity validation questions you're asking course registrants. You can get the revised list of questions from the final page of the downloadable student forms.)

Returning-Student Registration Improved

As your curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) is always working—and working with you—to simplify and improve the educational experience for you and your students.

After receiving valuable feedback and multiple suggestions about how to make the registration process clearer for returning/repeat traffic violator school (TVS) students, we've carefully considered all options and the IT team has developed a solution designed to better meet their needs. We're pleased to introduce an improved procedure that allows returning students to overwrite their previous results, when necessary. This update gives students greater confidence when archiving their previous completion, ensuring that they can get started quickly with their new course and retain access to all of their records should they need them.

Students will now see a new message when they attempt to register for a course using an email that has already been used to establish a student account:

Please note:

• Students must enter a new password and personal identity validation question responses before proceeding to payment for their new course.
• Students will have to contact customer service for their TVS to access the information in their archived records (if necessary).
• Remember: California drivers may only attend traffic violator school once every 18 months.

Michigan Curriculum Updates

As your curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) strives to ensure that we furnish you with the latest and most up-to-date educational materials. As such, we have revised our Basic Driver Improvement Course curricula to account for new laws taking effect in Michigan for late 2024/early 2025:

• updated child safety restaint requirements
• the use of cameras to enforce school bus stopping requirements and work zone speed limits
• a minimum 200-foot following distance for active snow removal equipment (previously deployed)

Internet Curriculum Updated

TSC has already updated the internet-based program, and your students are being presented the new material now. No further action is required for this modality.

Classroom Curriculum

Those of you who are delivering classroom instruction must ensure that you teach students the updated curriculum. You can access all of the latest curriculum materials for download via the Classroom Materials page on your affiliate administrative Web portal (login required). The files are available now, and you should begin using the updated materials immediately.

Please 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!

California Driver Ed Video Updates, Mk. II

As your traffic safety education curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) is constantly working to improve the content of the instructional materials that we present to students.

A few months ago, we announced that we had updated our internet-based driver education curriculum with new video content, with the promise that we would roll out similar changes to the classroom lesson plan in early 2025. We are excited to now share the results of our efforts to modernize and improve our classroom driver ed instructional content.

The new content slightly increases the total time dedicated to video presentations, giving students greater exposure to multi-modal learning; and the videos are now more evenly distributed throughout the course for a consistent learning experience. For instructors, we've done our best to group related materials together to provide for short breaks from lecture.

To teach the latest version of the curriculum, you'll need to download the following items via your CA Course Provider administrative website (login required):

• Lesson Plan: The table of contents and the course content itself have been updated to reflect the locations of the new video presentations within the lessons.
• Student Workbook (and Instructor Version): The spaces reserved for the "quizzes" within the older videos that are no longer in use have been removed.
• Video Files: There are a total of 18 new video (.mp4) files.

Please take a moment to download the new content and familiarize yourself with the changes.

(Note that the Ultimate Driving Challenge and National Driving Test #2 videos have been removed from the official curriculum and should no longer be presented to students.)

Make sure that you and/or any instructors you employ are presenting the latest edition of the curriculum, as you will be responsible for teaching/testing students on this new material!

New IT Features and Support for California

February brings news about streamlining behind-the-wheel scheduling for driver training and getting assistance if you're locked out of your California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) account!

Driver Training Scheduling

The information technology team at Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) has been hard at work over the past few months to provide a service that will modernize and simplify scheduling of driver training sessions for those using our driver education program.

The new scheduling experience is powered by Calendly, which integrates seamlessly with Google Calendar to offer an enhanced experience that is convenient and effortless for both students and educators:

• Students are able to see available openings and book an in-vehicle session directly online.
• Training providers can easily manage their availability and see their entire schedule at a glance.
• Automated communication provides helpful alerts that keep everyone on the same page.

Create a schedule that supports your success and say hello to a smarter way to manage your time! To get started, email Luis or call him at 800 . 487 . 1699.

TVCC Access Remedies

Getting locked out of your DMV Traffic Violator Course Completion (TVCC) account can be frustrating, but help is available! If your account has been locked due to multiple failed login attempts, simply…

• Call the DMV Occupational
  Licensing Hotline
  916 . 657 . 6567
• Let them know that you are:
• a traffic violator school (TVS) or driving school
• have been locked out of your TVCC account
• need a password reset

This should resolve your issue; but if you continue to have problems, contact your support team at TSC for assistance!

New California Laws for 2025

 A new year brings new traffic laws to California. Several new laws will take effect in 2025. 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 provide 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 2025 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 deliver classroom instruction must ensure that you teach 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 explain the new laws to students and distribute the latest versions of the classroom materials, as you will be responsible for teaching/testing students on this new material!

New Jersey Lesson Plan Updates

As your curriculum provider, Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) strives to ensure that we furnish you with the latest and most up-to-date educational materials. As such, we have revised our defensive driving course curricula to account for the addition of the requirement for practice driving time for drivers-in-training under the age of 21. This new law will go into effect for prospective New Jersey motorists for February 2025.

Internet Curriculum Updated

TSC has already updated the internet-based program, and your students are being presented the new material now. No further action is required for this modality.

Classroom Curriculum

Those of you who are delivering classroom instruction must ensure that you teach students the updated curriculum. You can access all of the latest curriculum materials for download via the Classroom Materials page on your affiliate administrative Web portal (login required). The files are available now, and you should begin using the updated materials immediately.

Please 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!