Arizona Drivers Education

For Arizona teens, driving rules must be adhered to (as in other states) and Arizona requires that you participate in the graduated drivers licensing program.

The Arizona Department of Transportation oversees the administering of driving tests and ensuring that rules of the road are enforced. Arizona believes that teens are good drivers, but too often insufficient skills, inexperience, poor judgment and unsafe behavior result in teens becoming high risk drivers. The Graduated Drivers Licensing program is designed to help you establish a lifetime of safe driving habits.

Arizona offers the Class G (probation or restriction stage) whereas a teen is not required to have an adult in the car with them, have no restrictions on passengers, have no nighttime driving restrictions and are not required to graduate from high school prior to obtaining a Class G license. However, in order to obtain a Class G license, you must be at least 15 years and 7 months of age to obtain an instruction permit, pass a written test, and have a properly licensed driver in the front seat during the permitting stage, and you must hold the permit for a minimum of 5 months. Once you turn 16, you may apply for a Class G Drivers license which will require you to have had at least 25 hours of supervised driving experience, including not less than 5 hours of night time driving or complete a drivers education course. Once you have successfully met these requirements, you are then eligible to obtain your Class G license. Once you reach the age of 18, you automatically become eligible for a Class D license, providing of course you have not incurred any driving violations on your Class G license.

Penalties on Class G License:

If you attend a Defensive Driving School, and this is your first violation, your record will remain clean; if you have a second offense and are convicted, a violation will be recorded on your record and you must attend Traffic Survival School. If you have a third violation (which results in a second conviction) your license will be suspended for three months and the violation will remain on your driving record. If you’re convicted a third time (fourth offense) you will not only keep the violation on your driving record but will also suffer a six month suspension of your license.

The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division requires certain forms of identification when applying for a Class G (or Class D) drivers license. This list is extensive and may be viewed on their website. It is important to note that if one form of acceptable identification has your photo that only two documents will be required, however if no photo ID is available then three will be required. You are also required to provide your social security number to the department and if you are under 18, your application must be signed by at least one adult who will be responsible in the event that you are negligent or are cited for willful misconduct while driving. The adult must be one parent if they are not divorced, both parents if divorced and share joint custody or one parent if that parent has sole custody. If your parents are not living, the application may be signed by a legal guardian, foster parent (with proper proof) or employer of the minor (with proof of death of the parents). All signatures must be witnessed by an agent of the motor vehicles department or by a notary public. It is important to note that the same signatures will be required for the permitting and licensing phases.

It will be helpful for you to review the Arizona Drivers License Manual before you obtain your permit.