BILL NUMBER: AB 1024 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beth Gaines
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Sections 11102.5 and 11104 of
add Section 11102.6 to the Vehicle
Code, relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1024, as amended, Beth Gaines. Driving schools.
Existing law requires a person who is licensed as a driving school
operator by the Department of Motor Vehicles to meet specified
requirements, and provides for disciplinary action against those
licensees who commit certain acts. Existing law specifies certain
requirements that a driving school operator must satisfy, including,
among others, passing an examination, within 3 attempts, on traffic
laws, safe driving practices, the operation of motor vehicles, and
other topics. Existing law requires the operator to have worked as a
driving instructor for a specified number of hours, as provided.
This bill would additionally require driving
school operators who are first licensed on or after
July 1, 2016, and who operate Internet and home study
driving schools with no behind-the-wheel driver
training, to successfully complete an 8-hour educational
program acceptable to the department with specified content,
including operator responsibilities and current laws, and
would exempt these driving school operators from
instead of meeting the requirement of having worked as a
driving instructor for a specified number of hours.
Existing law requires certain qualifications to be satisfied in
order to be a driving instructor, including, among others, that the
person be physically able to safely operate a motor vehicle and to
train others in the operation of motor vehicles, and that the person
hold a valid California driver's license in a class appropriate for
the type of vehicle in which instruction will be given.
This bill would require only classroom-based driving school
driving instructors to satisfy the 2 above-described qualifications.
The bill would require Internet and home-study driving school
instructors to hold a class C driver's license.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11102.6 is added to the
Vehicle Code , to read:
11102.6. (a) Notwithstanding Section 11102.5, a driving school
operator who is first licensed to operate a driving school on or
after July 1, 2016, whose sole method of instruction is
Internet-based driver education, and who offers no behind-the-wheel
driver training, shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1) Within three attempts, pass an examination that the department
requires on traffic laws, safe driving practices, operation of motor
vehicles, teaching methods and techniques, driving school statutes
and regulations, and office procedures and recordkeeping.
(2) Pay the department a fee for each examination taken, not to
exceed the reasonable cost of administering the examination.
(3) Be 21 years of age or older.
(4) Have successfully completed an educational program of not less
than eight hours that is acceptable to the department. The program
shall include, but not be limited to, driving school operator
responsibilities, current vehicle laws, and regulations in Article
4.6 of Chapter 1 of Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations.
The instruction may be provided by generally accredited educational
institutions, private vocational schools, and education programs and
seminars offered by professional societies, organizations, trade
associations, and other educational and technical programs that meet
the requirements of this section.
(b) The qualifying requirements referred to in this section shall
be met within one year from the date of application for a license, or
a new application, examination, and a fee for the examination not to
exceed the reasonable cost of administering the examination shall be
required.
SECTION 1. Section 11102.5 of the Vehicle Code
is amended to read:
11102.5. (a) A driving school operator shall meet all of the
following requirements:
(1) Within three attempts, pass an examination that the department
requires on traffic laws, safe driving practices, operation of motor
vehicles, teaching methods and techniques, driving school statutes
and regulations, and office procedures and recordkeeping.
(2) Pay the department a fee of one hundred dollars ($100), which
shall entitle the applicant to three examinations.
(3) Be 21 years of age or older.
(4) For Internet and home study driving schools, have successfully
completed an educational program of not less than eight hours that
is acceptable to the department. The program shall include, but not
be limited to, driving school operator responsibilities, current
vehicle laws, and regulations in Article 4 of Title 13 of the
California Code of Regulations. The instruction may be provided by
generally accredited educational institutions, private vocational
schools, and education programs and seminars offered by professional
societies, organizations, trade associations, and other educational
and technical programs that meet the requirements of this section.
(5) For classroom-based driving schools, have worked for an
established licensed California driving school as a driving
instructor for a period of not less than 2,000 hours of actual
behind-the-wheel teaching and, on and after July 1, 1973, have
satisfactorily completed a course in the teaching of driver education
and driver training acceptable to the department, except that the
operator, including an owner who is also the operator, of a driving
school that exclusively teaches motorcycle driving may, in lieu of
the behind-the-wheel teaching requirement, have worked for an
established licensed California driving school as a motorcycle
driving instructor for not less than 300 hours of actual motorcycle
range and street teaching, have taught 300 hours of actual motorcycle
range and street instruction under the guidance of the Motorcycle
Safety Foundation, or have given comparable training instruction that
is acceptable to the department. This paragraph does not apply to
any person who is certified by the State Department of Education as
fully qualified to teach driver education and driver training and has
taught those subjects in the public school system for not less than
1,000 hours.
(b) The qualifying requirements referred to in this section shall
be met within one year from the date of application for a license, or
a new application, examination, and a fee shall be required.
SEC. 2. Section 11104 of the Vehicle Code is
amended to read:
11104. (a) Every person, in order to qualify as a driving
instructor, as defined in Section 310.4, shall meet all of the
following requirements:
(1) On and after July 1, 1973, have a high school education or its
equivalent and have satisfactorily completed a course in the
teaching of driver education and driver training acceptable to the
department.
(2) Within three attempts, pass an examination that the department
requires on traffic laws, safe driving practices, operation of motor
vehicles, and teaching methods and techniques.
(3) For classroom-based driving school instructors, be physically
able to safely operate a motor vehicle and to train others in the
operation of motor vehicles.
(4) For classroom-based driving school instructors, hold a valid
California driver's license in a class appropriate for the type of
vehicle in which instruction will be given.
(5) For Internet and home study driving school instructors, hold a
class C driver's license.
(6) Not be on probation to the department as a negligent operator.
(7) Have a driving record without any outstanding notice for
violating a written promise to appear in court or for willfully
failing to pay a lawfully imposed fine, as provided in Section 40509.
(8) Be 21 years of age or older.
(b) For classroom-based driving school instructors, if an
applicant cannot meet the requirements of paragraphs (3) and (4) of
subdivision (a) because of a physical disability, the department may,
at its discretion, issue the applicant a driving school instructor's
license restricted to classroom driver education instruction only.
(c) The qualifying requirements referred to in this section shall
be met within one year from the date of application for a license, or
a new application, examination, and a fee shall be required.