BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1024 (Beth Gaines) - Driving schools
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|Version: June 18, 2015 |Policy Vote: T. & H. 11 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: June 29, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1024 would revise the requirements for the
operators of driving schools that offer no behind-the-wheel
training. Specifically, this bill would require these driving
school operators to complete a 60-hour educational program
rather working as a driving instructor with at least 2,000 hours
of behind-the-wheel teaching experience, in addition to other
specified requirements.
Fiscal
Impact:
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) estimates one-time
implementation costs of approximately $170,000 to adopt
operator educational program requirements, make necessary
AB 1024 (Beth Gaines) Page 1 of
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programming changes to implement new licensing codes and fees,
and update publications and forms. (Motor Vehicle Account)
DMV estimates ongoing administrative costs of $170,000 in
2015-16, $129,000 in 2016-17, and $86,000 annually thereafter
for operator education curriculum approval, new driving school
curriculum approval, and monitoring and oversight of
additional schools. (Motor Vehicle Account)
Minor driving school owner and operator licensing revenues,
less than $10,000 annually, beginning in 2016-17. (Motor
Vehicle Account)
Background: Existing law establishes a graduated driver's licensing
program for young drivers. Under this program, an individual
who is 15 years and six months or older and has completed
DMV-approved driver education and training classes (25 hours of
instruction through a classroom, home study, or Internet
course), may apply for a learner's permit. Once the individual
has held the permit for at least six months, and has completed
at least six hours of behind-the-wheel training and 50 hours of
supervised driving practice, among other requirements, he or she
may apply for a provisional driver's license. This license
carries certain restrictions, such as limits on driving at night
and prohibitions on driving with passengers. Once the
individual reaches the age of 18, he or she can apply for a
regular driver's license.
DMV licenses and approves all owners, operators, and instructors
of driver's education and driver's training courses. DMV also
establishes course curricula, conducts monitoring activities,
and performs other regulatory functions. Driver's education
operators and instructors are also subject to separate licensing
requirements due to their differing responsibilities -
instructors provide coursework instruction and engage with
students, whereas operators carry out administrative functions,
oversee instructors, and, at times, provide instruction.
Students are also provided a wide range of driver's education
and training courses including classroom only driver's
education, combined classroom driver's education and
behind-the-wheel training, home study driver's education,
Internet-based driver's education, and separate driver's
training instruction.
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Regardless of the mode of instruction, or whether a school
offers behind-the-wheel training or not, existing law requires
all driving school operators to meet the following requirements:
Pass an examination within three attempts on traffic laws,
safe driving practices, operation of motor vehicles, teaching
methods and techniques, driving school statutes and
regulations, and office procedures and recordkeeping.
Pay a $100 fee, which entitles the applicant to three
examinations.
Be 21 years of age or older.
Have worked for a licensed California driving school as a
driving instructor for at least 2,000 hours of
behind-the-wheel teaching.
Complete a course in the teaching of driver education and
driver training acceptable to DMV.
Proposed Law:
Beginning July 1, 2016, AB 1024 would require an individual
applying for a first license to operate a driving school that
does not offer behind-the-wheel training to meet the following
requirements:
Pass an examination within three attempts on traffic laws,
safe driving practices, operation of motor vehicles, teaching
methods and techniques, driving school statutes and
regulations, and office procedures and recordkeeping.
Pay a fee for each examination taken, not to exceed DMV's
reasonable cost of administering the examination.
Be 21 years of age or older.
Have successfully completed an educational program of not less
than 60 hours that is acceptable to the DMV and includes a
minimum of 40 hours of classroom instruction and 20 hours of
behind-the-wheel instruction. This program shall include, but
not be limited to, driving school operator responsibilities
and current vehicle laws and regulations. This 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.
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Related
Legislation: SB 1112 (Knight), Chap. 243/2000, increased the
driving school operator behind-the-wheel teaching experience
requirement from 1,000 hours to 2,000 hours.
Staff
Comments: This bill is intended to revise the driving school
operator licensing requirements for operators of schools that do
not provide behind-the-wheel training. Since these schools only
offer driver's education, the 2,000 hour behind-the-wheel
teaching requirement is replaced with a 60-hour operator
education requirement. This educational program requirement
mirrors the 60-hour education requirement for driving school
instructors.
DMV has identified one-time implementation costs of $170,000,
which primarily covers staff time for developing and adopting
the new education requirements and curriculum frameworks through
regulations, and includes about $90,000 for programming the new
licensing codes and fees into the occupational licensing system.
DMV estimates that the bill would result in a minimum of six
education providers submitting operator education curriculum to
DMV for approval, and would result in new driving schools
offering instruction for new drivers, which also requires
curriculum review by DMV. The department has identified ongoing
costs to review and approve curriculum for both education
program providers and new driving schools, and to provide
ongoing monitoring and oversight of new driving schools. DMV
estimates these costs to be $170,000 in 2015-16, $129,000 in
2016-17, and $86,000 annually thereafter.
Staff notes that DMV already approves curriculum for the 60-hour
driving school instructor requirements, which appear to be
similar to the requirements for driving school operators
specified in this bill. DMV's costs could be mitigated to the
extent department staff can look to existing regulations and
curriculum requirements for instructors when developing criteria
for the operator education curriculum.
AB 1024 (Beth Gaines) Page 4 of
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Recommended
Amendments: Staff recommends that the bill be amended to update
Vehicle Code sections within Chapter 1 of Division 5, pertaining
to Driving Schools and Driving Instructors, to include cross
references to the new section of law added by this bill, where
appropriate. Specifically, various surrounding code sections
that cross reference requirements for driving school operators
should be amended to include the new §11102.6 added by this
bill.
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