act-1951-0-605•Pennsylvania Act 1951-605 — PRIVATE DRIVER EDUCATION OR TRAINING SCHOOL ACT
Pennsylvania Act 1951-605 — PRIVATE DRIVER EDUCATION OR TRAINING SCHOOL ACT
act-1951-0-6051951 Pa. Act 605Law
Act text
PRIVATE DRIVER EDUCATION OR TRAINING SCHOOL ACT
Act of Jan. 18, (1952) 1951, P.L. 2128, No. 605 Cl. 24
AN ACT
Defining and providing for the licensing and regulation of
private driver education or training schools; conferring
powers and imposing duties on the Department of Public
Instruction; and imposing penalties.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The following words and phrases as used in this
act shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) "Private driver education or training school" or
"school" shall mean a school maintained, classes conducted or
instruction offered by any individual, association, partnership
or corporation, for a consideration, profit or tuition, the
purpose of which is to educate or train an individual or
individuals, either practically or theoretically or both, to
operate or drive a motor vehicle.
(2) "Agent" shall mean any person, whether employed by a
private driver education or training school or operating in his
own behalf, or whether acting in behalf of any school located
within or outside of this Commonwealth, who shall personally
solicit any individual within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
to enroll in a school.
(3) "Department" shall mean the Department of Public
Instruction.
(4) "Motor vehicle" shall mean every motor vehicle, as
defined in the act, approved the first day of May, one thousand
nine hundred twenty-nine (Pamphlet Laws 905), as amended, known
as "The Vehicle Code."
Section 2. The provisions of this act shall not apply to
colleges or universities, schools maintained or classes
conducted by employers for their own employes where no fee or
tuition is charged, schools or classes owned and operated by or
under the authority of bona fide religious institutions, or by
the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, or
schools accredited by accrediting associations approved by the
Department of Public Instruction, or schools licensed by the
State Board of Private Academic Schools.
Section 3. The provisions of this act shall be administered
by the Department of Public Instruction.
Section 4. The qualifications for licensure and the
standards of licensure.
(1) School Plant.
(a) General.
(i) The situs of a school, branch school and practice driver
training area shall be a distance of at least fifteen hundred
(1500) feet from any official examination point used by the
Pennsylvania State Police for examining motor vehicle operators,
which distance shall be measured along the public streets by the
nearest route from the school, branch school or practice driver
training area to the said point.
(ii) The outdoor area used during the first three (3) hours
of practical instruction by persons who hold a learner's permit
shall be one which is reasonably free of pedestrian and
vehicular traffic, and shall not include primary traffic
arteries, main highway routes or other thoroughfares that carry
large amounts of the said traffic.
(b) In the case of a school where five (5) or more students
are assembled as a group for theoretical instruction in Driver
Education.
(i) The premises, equipment and facilities of the school
shall conform to all safety and sanitary requirements of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any of its political
subdivisions applicable thereto.
(ii) The provisions for the health, physical welfare and
safety of student personnel shall be those prescribed by the
governmental authorities having jurisdiction over such matters.
(iii) The artificial lighting facilities shall provide a
minimum of twenty-five (25) foot-candles of illumination on the
horizontal surfaces of all indoor activity areas used for school
purposes.
(iv) The heating facilities shall be sufficient to provide
for the maintenance of normal room temperatures in all rooms
occupied by students when the outside temperature is less than
normal room temperature. When the school does not use mechanical
ventilation, windows shall be used and equipped for ventilating
purposes.
(v) The premises, facilities and any alterations of or
additions to the premises or facilities must be approved by the
Department of Public Instruction before the premises or
facilities may be used for school purposes and before any of the
said alterations or additions may be made.
(2) Teacher and Director Qualifications.
(a) Every teacher in a school shall be a citizen of the
United States, at least eighteen (18) years of age, and a person
of good moral character. ((a) amended June 16, 1972, P.L.434,
No.130)
(b) Every teacher shall have a valid motor vehicle
operator's license issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
and shall submit documentary evidence of having driven a minimum
of fifteen thousand (15,000) miles under all kinds of weather
conditions in both urban and rural areas.
(c) Every teacher must maintain, during any consecutive
three-year period, a driving record which does not include more
than one (1) reportable accident, as defined in The Vehicle
Code, resulting in a suspension or revocation of his motor
vehicle operator's license.
(d) Every teacher must pass (1) a written theoretical
examination prepared and administered by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction or such agency as he may designate, and
embracing subject matter pertinent to the care, operation and
use of a motor vehicle on the highways and to general highway
safety principles and practices, and (2) a practical
examination, prepared and administered by the Secretary of
Revenue or such agency as he may designate, for the purpose of
testing a teacher's competency and fitness in the operation of a
motor vehicle.
(e) Every teacher shall present a certificate from a
physician, legally qualified to practice medicine in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, setting forth that said person is
neither mentally nor physically disqualified by reason of
tuberculosis nor any other chronic or acute physical defect from
performing the duties of a driver education teacher.
(f) A director or supervisor of a school or branch thereof
shall meet the qualifications of a teacher as set forth
hereinbefore in this section, and shall have had a minimum of
two (2) years' successful teaching experience in a private or
public driver training school or class.
(g) Every school that employs five (5) or more full-time
teachers or an equivalent number of part-time teachers shall
designate a director, who shall meet the qualifications
prescribed in section 4 (2) (f) and who shall devote at least
one-half of his time to the performance of administrative and
supervisory duties.
(3) Instructional Equipment and Materials.
(a) The amount and type of school furniture, instructional
equipment and instructional materials shall be governed by the
character and scope of the educational program of the school,
the number of pupils enrolled, and the objectives of the
educational program of the school, and shall conform to
generally accepted educational standards.
(b) The amount and type of school furniture and of
instructional equipment and materials shall not be required to
exceed or to vary from that which is generally used in
connection with the programs of driver education in public
schools of like character and scope.
(c) Every school shall provide text, test and reference
materials, including pamphlets and visual aids, for the
instruction in the theoretical and practical phases of driver
training.
(d) Every vehicle used for practical driver training shall
be a recent model, not more than eight (8) years old or having
not more than eighty thousand (80,000) miles, whichever occurs
later, with special equipment as follows: operable extra brake
pedal, and in the case of vehicles equipped with standard
transmission an operable extra clutch pedal, defroster and
heater in working order, rear-view mirror placed on the inside
of the car in the vicinity of the cowl, two (2) outside rear-
view mirrors, one on each side of the vehicle, and cushions for
the proper seating of the students. ((d) amended Nov. 24, 1998,
P.L.826, No.107)
(e) Every school shall provide insurance coverage on all
cars used for practical driver training. This coverage shall
include at least (a) 50-100 thousand dollars public liability,
(b) five thousand dollars property damage, (c) two thousand
dollars medical.
(4) Program of Instruction.
(a) Driver training schools licensed under this act shall
make available both the theoretical and practical instruction.
(b) Theoretical instruction in driver education shall
include subject matter relating to rules and regulations of the
road, safe driving practices, pedestrian safety care, and
mechanics of motor vehicles, driver responsibility, theory of
driving, types of automobile insurance, and the use of
automobile safety devices.
(c) Practical instruction in driver education shall include
the demonstration of and actual instruction in starting,
stopping, shifting, turning, backing, parking and steering in a
training vehicle which shall meet the requirements of the
Department of Public Instruction.
(d) Driver training schools licensed under this act shall
publish a schedule of prospectus of fees or charges for behind-
the-wheel lessons, classroom lessons, refresher lessons, and all
other fees or charges made by the school. A copy of a prospectus
setting forth the aforesaid information shall be filed with the
Department of Public Instruction.
(5) Fees.
(a) Every school shall inform each student, prior to the
time instruction commences, of the character and amount of any
and all fees or charges made for enrollment or registration,
tuition, use of equipment, texts and reference materials,
supplies, and any other service, equipment or materials provided
by the school.
(6) Records.
(a) Every school shall establish and maintain complete,
accurate and detailed financial records that shall include data
pertaining to assets, liabilities, sources and amount of income,
and the character and amount of expenditures. The said records
shall be kept current and available for inspection during
regular school hours by one or more representatives of the
department.
(b) Every school shall maintain adequate records of
individuals, and each school shall maintain a permanent
cumulative record care for each pupil. Such record card shall
indicate the number of clock hours of instruction received by
each pupil, and shall contain information on attendance,
achievement test scores, personal characteristics, health, and
other pertinent topics. Such records shall be kept current and
available for inspection at all times during regular school
hours by one or more representatives of the department.
(7) Agents.
(a) Each agent shall be a person of good moral character, a
citizen of the United States, and at least eighteen (18) years
of age. ((a) amended June 16, 1972, P.L.434, No.130)
(b) An agent representing a school which is located outside
this Commonwealth shall submit to the department such
information and data pertaining to the said school as the
department may deem necessary and require, in order to validate
any representation made in behalf of the said school by the said
agent. The department may require the said information and data
to be certified by such educational authorities of the other
state as the department may designate.
(c) An agent's license shall not be granted to an agent of a
school which is located outside this Commonwealth unless the
said school maintains educational standards and policies that
are substantially equivalent to those prescribed herein for
driver training schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(d) Each agent shall display or produce his agent's license
certificate when requested to do so by prospective students or a
representative of the department.
(8) Ownership.
(a) Each individual proprietor of a school, each member of a
partnership association or company that owns a school, and each
officer and director of a corporation that owns a school, who is
directly connected with the conduct and operation of the
educational program, shall be a person of good moral character,
a citizen of the United States, and at least eighteen (18) years
of age. The said persons and any school employe thereof shall
not be addicted to the use of alcoholic liquors, morphine,
cocaine or other drugs having a similar effect, and shall not be
mentally incompetent. ((a) amended June 16, 1972, P.L.434,
No.130)
(b) A license shall be granted to the owner of a particular
school for the specific ownership constituency and the specific
school situs designated in the application for a license. Any
change in ownership or in school situs must be approved by the
board prior to the date of the said change.
(c) A change in ownership requires an application for an
original license, which application shall be submitted to the
department at least thirty (30) days in advance of the effective
date of the said change, and the school shall not be conducted
or operated under the new or different individual
proprietorship, partnership, association, company or corporation
until and unless an original license has been granted and issued
to the new or different ownership constituency.
Section 5. (a) No private driver education or training
school shall continue operation or be established within the
Commonwealth unless such school shall, within six (6) months
after the effective date of this act, apply for and obtain from
the department a license in the manner and form prescribed by
the department.
(b) Within this Commonwealth, no person or persons shall
advertise in behalf of or solicit prospective students to enroll
in a school to be established within the Commonwealth prior to
the establishment of such school, unless such person or persons
shall apply to the department for a license in the manner and
form prescribed by the department and shall receive from the
department authorization to conduct such activities.
(c) Within this Commonwealth, no person or persons shall
solicit prospective students to enroll in a school to be
established outside the Commonwealth prior to the establishment
of such school, unless such person or persons shall apply for
and obtain from the department an agent's license in the manner
and form prescribed by the department.
(d) No person or persons shall solicit any prospective
student within this Commonwealth to enroll in a school located
within or outside this Commonwealth, unless such school has been
approved by the department and unless such person or persons
shall apply for and obtain from the department an agent's
license in the manner and form prescribed by the department.
Section 6. Before any license is issued, a verified
application shall be made, in writing, to the department, on a
form prepared and furnished by the department. An application
from a school shall require a statement showing (1) the title or
name of the school or classes, together with ownership and
controlling officers thereof; (2) the specific course of
instruction which will be offered; (3) the place or places where
such instruction will be given; (4) a specific listing of the
equipment available for instruction in each field; (5) the
maximum enrollment to be accommodated on equipment available in
each specific field; (6) the qualifications of instructors and
supervisors in each specific field; (7) financial resources
available to equip and to maintain the school or classes; (8)
such additional information as the department may deem necessary
to enable it to determine the adequacy of the program of
instruction and matters pertaining thereto; (9) an expression of
willingness, at the discretion of the department, at any time it
may designate, to provide a surety company bond in favor of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania conditioned for the protection of
the contractual rights of students.
Section 7. If the department finds that the application and
the school or classes or agent for which a license is sought
complies with the provisions of this act and the rules and
regulations of the department promulgated under the provisions
of this act, the department shall issue an original license to
the applicant.
Section 8. Any license issued to a school shall be
restricted to the fields or courses specifically indicated in
the application for a license. Any license issued to an agent
shall be restricted to the school or schools specifically listed
in the application for a license. A licensed school shall
present a supplementary application, as may be directed by the
department, for approval of additional fields or courses in
which it is desired to offer instruction during the effective
period of the license. A licensed agent desiring to solicit
prospective students to enroll in schools other than those
specifically listed in any application for license shall present
a supplementary application, as may be directed by the
department, for approval to solicit for such schools or
additional schools.
Section 9. Each original license issued shall be effective
from the date of issue until the first day of July following the
issuance of the original license, and shall be renewed annually
thereafter on a form prepared and furnished by the department.
Each licensing year is to continue from the first day of July to
the following thirtieth day of June inclusive. Each school shall
have a separate license which shall not be transferable.
Section 10. Each original application for a license to
conduct a school shall be accompanied by a license fee equal to
ten dollars ($10) for each teacher used or employed at any one
time. The first application shall be accompanied by the fee
based on the highest number of teachers used or employed at any
one time during the twelve months immediately preceding the
effective date of this act, or, if the applicant is first
commencing to operate after said date, the fee shall be based on
the highest number of teachers estimated to be employed at any
one time during the first six months of the year for which the
license is to be effective. If, during the first six months,
such applicant shall use or employ at any one time more teachers
than the number he estimated, he shall pay the additional fee
due therefor at the time he applies for his next renewal. Each
renewal application shall be accompanied by the fee based on the
highest number of teachers used or employed at any one time
during the license year immediately preceding the year for which
the renewal is to be effective. No fee shall be charged for a
supplementary application for the approval of additional fields
or courses of instruction. Fees for agents shall be five dollars
($5) per year. All license fees shall be paid into the General
Fund in the State Treasury through the Department of Revenue. No
license fees shall be refunded in the event any license is
suspended or revoked.
Compiler's Note: Section 15 of Act 67 of 1990 provided that
section 10 is repealed insofar as it relates to fee
payments.
Section 11. The department shall maintain a list of schools
and agents licensed under the provisions of this act, which
shall be available for the information of the public.
Section 12. No private driver education or training school
shall be granted a license or shall be permitted to continue to
operate under a granted license unless:
(1) It shall permit the department and its representatives
to inspect the school or classes, and shall make available to
the department, at any time when requested to do so, full
information pertaining to any or all items of information
contained in the application form which is currently provided by
the department to applicants for license.
(2) It shall prominently display the current approved
license where it may be inspected by students, visitors and
designated officials of the department.
(3) The advertising and representations made by anyone
representing the school or classes as an agent or contractual
agent to prospective students shall be free from
misrepresentation or fraud.
(a) A school shall not use any name, other than its licensed
name, for advertising or publicity purposes, nor shall a school
advertise or imply that it is "supervised," "recommended,"
"endorsed," "accredited" or "approved" by the Department of
Public Instruction or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(b) A school shall not claim or imply that it is endorsed by
colleges, universities or other institutions of higher learning,
bus companies, trucking associations, automobile clubs or taxi
companies, unless written evidence of that fact is presented to
the department by the endorsing college, university, bus
company, trucking association, automobile club or taxi company.
(c) A school shall not claim or imply that it will guarantee
employment upon completion of the course, or guarantee the
securing of a license to drive an automobile.
(d) A school shall not by means of "blind" advertisements or
advertisements in the "help wanted" or other employment columns
of newspapers and other publications solicit prospective
students to enroll in the school.
Section 13. The department shall have the power to refuse to
issue and the power to suspend or revoke a license in any case
where the department shall find:
(1) That the licensee has violated any of the provisions of
this act or any of the rules and regulations of the department.
(2) That the applicant or licensee has knowingly presented
to the department false, incomplete or misleading information
relating to licensure.
(3) That the applicant or licensee has pleaded guilty,
entered a plea of nolo contendere, or has been found guilty of a
crime involving moral turpitude, by a judge or jury in any State
or Federal court.
(4) That the applicant licensee or any employe in a school
is addicted to the use of alcoholic liquors, morphine, cocaine
or other drugs having a similar effect, or is or shall become
mentally incompetent.
(5) That the applicant or licensee has failed or refused to
permit the department or its representatives to inspect the
school or classes, or has failed or refused to make available to
the department, at any time when requested to do so, full
information pertaining to any or all items of information
contained in an application for license or pertaining to the
program of instruction and matters relating thereto.
(6) That the applicant has failed or refused to submit to
the department an application for license in the manner and form
prescribed by the department.
(7) That a licensed school has failed or refused to display
the current approved license where it may be inspected by
students, visitors and designated officials of the department.
(8) That a licensed agent has failed or refused to display
or produce his license when requested to do so by prospective
students or designated officials of the department.
(9) That the applicant or licensee has failed to provide or
maintain premises, equipment or conditions which are adequate,
safe and sanitary, in accordance with such standards of the
Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions as are
applicable to such premises and equipment.
(10) That the licensee has perpetrated or committed fraud or
deceit in advertising the school or classes or in presenting to
prospective students written or oral information relating to the
school or classes or to employment opportunities.
(11) That the licensee is employing teachers, supervisors or
administrators who have not been approved by the department, or
agents who have not been licensed by the department.
(12) That the licensee has failed to provide and maintain
adequate premises, equipment, materials or supplies, or has
exceeded the maximum enrollment for which the school or class
was licensed.
(13) That the licensee has failed to provide and maintain
adequate standards of instruction or an adequate and qualified
administrative supervisory or teaching staff.
(14) That the applicant or licensee is unable to provide and
maintain financial resources in sufficient amount to equip and
maintain adequately and effectively the school or classes.
(15) That the licensee has moved the school into new
premises or facilities, or has altered or made additions to
premises or facilities, before notifying the department of such
change and before receiving from the department approval for the
new premises or facilities, alterations or additions.
(16) That the licensee has offered training or instruction
in courses or subjects which have not been approved and
authorized by the department.
(17) That a licensed agent has solicited prospective
students to enroll in a school which has not been approved by
the department and which is not listed on the license issued by
the department.
(18) That there was a change in the ownership of the school
without the approval of the department.
(19) That the school was operated or conducted under an
ownership constituency not approved by the department.
The procedure to be followed in the refusal, suspension and
revocation of licenses and in appeals taken from action of the
department shall be that prescribed by the act, approved the
fourth day of June, one thousand nine hundred forty-five
(Pamphlet Laws 1388), known as the "Administrative Agency Law"
and its amendments.
Section 14. The Department of Public Instruction shall have
power to make, adopt and enforce rules and regulations for the
enforcement of this act. The Superintendent of Public
Instruction may appoint an advisory committee of seven members,
two members of which shall be selected from persons active in
the private driver education field, two members shall be public
school administrators, one member shall be from the membership
of the Pennsylvania Association of Highway Safety Educators, one
member shall be from the personnel of the Department of Revenue,
and one member shall be from the personnel of the Pennsylvania
State Police. It shall be the duty of the committee to advise
and to make recommendations to the department regarding rules
and regulations for the licensing of schools and agents.
Section 15. Any person who shall violate or fail to comply
with any of the provisions of this act or any of the rules or
regulations promulgated thereunder shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to
pay a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than
five hundred dollars ($500), or to undergo imprisonment for not
more than one (1) year, or both. If the violation shall be by a
corporation, partnership or association, the officers and
directors of such corporation or the members of such partnership
or association, its agents and employes, with guilty knowledge
of the fact, shall also be guilty of misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be punished as hereinbefore provided.
Section 16. The provisions of this act shall become
effective immediately upon its final enactment.
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