Arizona Driving Requirements for a Graduated License

As of August 2008, the state of Arizona has implemented new changes to Arizona driving requirements for those who are obtaining their initial driver’s license. The population most effected by the changes include teens and their parents. While it is true that a standard of Arizona traffic school is to teach defensive driving, some of the onus is on the parents or legal guardians to ensure that the teen can successfully complete a traffic driving school program.

Requirements of obtaining a Graduated Instruction Permit:

• Teens 15 years, 6 months old can apply
• Applicant must pass written and vision tests
• Applicant must have a licensed driver 21 years of age or older occupying the passenger seat
• Applicant must hold a permit for 6 months regardless of issuance date if under age 18 before being eligible for a Graduated License

Requirements for obtaining an Arizona driving Graduated License(once Graduated Instruction Permit is issued):

• Teen must be at least 16 years old to obtain the Graduated License
• Must have 30 hours of supervised driving from a legal guardian or custodial parent; 10 of these 30 hours must be driven at night
• Applicant must provide certificate for skills training from an MVD licensed Arizona driving school

Since parents and/or guardians do play such an important role in helping their teens obtain a Graduated License, here is a sample “lesson plan” to help parents become more confident in their roles as teachers, and hopefully make it less scary to be in the passenger’s seat when the teen takes the wheel:

1. Always begin “lesson” with review of previous lesson
2. Safety check (seatbelts, etc.), vehicle adjustment (mirrors, seat position)
3. Discuss expectations/objectives of the lesson about to take place
4. Review turns – right turns and left turns 3x around block each
5. Introduce new skill: ex. Parallel parking, stop signs, yield signs
6. Introduce new skill (depending on the progress of your teen, it is okay to introduce more than one skill per lesson) ex., Proceeding through intersections – look: left, right, straight, left again, then proceed slowly
7. Practicing new skills
8. Review new skills
9. Discuss Progress: Give feedback – make sure to give positive feedback and then cover areas that might need work next time
10. Keep a record of the hours spent: include the weather conditions and time of day so that you can have this as documentation for the Arizona driving school where the teen is taking his/her skills training MVD test

*Stop and Go Arizona driving schools are located throughout Arizona. Please see our list of locations for the one nearest you.