Driver Training School Regulation (Georgia DDS)
Licensing authority and scope
The Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) regulates driver training schools and instructors under O.C.G.A. Title 40 and Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 375-5. A driver training school license is not the same as a Driver Improvement Clinic license; a school that wants to offer defensive-driving clinic services must hold the separate clinic authorization. DDS approval covers the school’s curriculum, location, training vehicles, and instructors, and a school may not operate until licensed.
Instructor qualifications
DDS rules require an instructor applicant to be at least 21, hold a valid Georgia driver’s license, have at least three years of driving experience, and have a high school diploma or GED. The applicant must complete a DDS-approved instructor training course, pass required examinations, and clear a background check. Certain convictions-especially DUI, drug, or violence offenses-disqualify an applicant. Instructors must renew, report changes, and teach only for a licensed school.
School operating standards
A licensed school must use an approved curriculum, maintain a suitable classroom facility, provide training vehicles with dual controls and required safety equipment, carry insurance, display its license, keep student and business records, and allow DDS inspections. Advertising must be truthful: a school cannot promise a license, misstate DDS approval, or imply that completion guarantees passing the road test.
Enforcement
DDS may deny, suspend, revoke, or fine a school or instructor for unlicensed operation, hiring unqualified instructors, falsifying records, or using misleading advertising.
Worked example. A school advertises “DDS-approved course-guaranteed license” and assigns a lesson to an instructor whose license is suspended. The ad is a misrepresentation because DDS approves courses, not license outcomes; assigning the lesson violates the requirement that instructors hold a valid license. DDS could suspend the school’s license and the instructor’s authorization, and the lesson must be canceled and documented.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating a driver training school license as interchangeable with a clinic license.
- Assuming instructor candidates need only a clean license, not training and background checks.
- Believing DDS approves each individual lesson plan rather than the school’s approved curriculum and operations.
- Overlooking recordkeeping and inspection duties.