Helping Your Arizona Teen Earn a Class G License

Before the permit: the three ways to qualify

Arizona does not require a full driver education course. Under A.R.S. 28-3174, only one of the three routes involves a complete program; the other two rest on your written certification of supervised practice.

A public high school program needs ADOT approval, granted in consultation with the Department of Education, and private programs need ADOT approval too. Ask any school to show you that approval before you sign up.

• Route A: finish an ADOT approved driver education program
• Route B: a traffic survival school course, or one from a defensive driving school the Supreme Court approves, followed by 20 certified hours (6 at night)
• Route C: 30 certified hours, 10 of them at night

Before the permit: can a course stand in for MVD testing?

State law allows it. A.R.S. 28-3164 permits MVD to accept evidence that someone finished an ADOT approved training course; for class G and D licenses, a state authorized third party has to supply that evidence. According to ADOT, finishing an approved high school or private program, with proof, is how the road test gets waived. Families on the 20 or 30 hour routes still take it.

Ask a school directly whether it is an authorized third party whose completion record MVD will take in place of testing. MVD keeps the power to test anyone, so a certificate is not an automatic pass.

Getting the permit: what your teen faces

At 15 and a half your teen can apply, after passing all of the license exam apart from the drive. Expect a vision check, sign recognition, traffic laws and safe driving questions, and how phones and other distractions affect driving.

The permit lasts a year. It has to be on your teen while driving, and the adult in the next seat needs to be at least 21 and hold a license in class A, B, C or D.

At 15, a teen enrolled in ADOT approved training qualifies for a restricted permit, good for a school year or less. It only allows driving on a designated highway or in a designated area with an approved instructor alongside, so it is for the course itself, not for family practice.

A worked example: if your teen turns 15 and a half in February and gets the permit that month, six months on the permit is reached in August, but class G still waits for the 16th birthday the following August. The permit expires the next February, so plan the class G application before then.

Getting the permit: the test at home option

Applicants under 18 can use MVD's Permit Test @ Home. You, not your teen, set it up through your own AZ MVD Now account: verify your identity, enter your teen's details, pay the $7 application fee, and supervise the test in a room cleared of other devices, notes and writing materials.

There are 30 multiple choice questions, 30 minutes on the clock and an 80 percent pass mark, and the result appears on screen. Passing does not produce a permit. For that, your teen goes to MVD or an Authorized Third Party office, carrying original ID documents and the application.

After class G: the first six months

During the first six months your teen must be off the road from midnight until 5 a.m. The exceptions: you or another legal guardian with a class A, B, C or D license rides alongside, or the drive is a direct trip to or from a job, a family emergency, or a sanctioned school or religious event.

In the same period the limit is one rider younger than 18. Brothers and sisters do not count against it, and the limit lifts when a licensed parent or guardian sits up front. Wireless devices are banned except in an emergency or for spoken turn by turn directions that are not set or changed while driving.

If something goes wrong: class G violations

Police cannot pull your teen over just for a class G restriction, but they can add it to a citation for something else. A first violation means a civil penalty up to $75 and 30 more days of restrictions; a second, up to $100 and 60 more days.

Third and later violations mean a penalty as high as $100 plus a 30 day suspension. Curfew and passenger citations go away when your teen hands the court a notarized letter proving a valid exception, for example your letter confirming the passengers were siblings.

If your teen gets a ticket: traffic survival school

Arizona is strict with drivers under 18. Under A.R.S. 28-3321, MVD orders traffic survival school after the first moving violation, suspends for three months after the second, and for six months after the third.

Traffic survival school runs eight hours or more, in person. If an eligible ticket is handled with a defensive driving class before the court date, it never becomes a judgment, which can spare your teen the survival school order. Read the defensive driving section before paying any ticket your teen receives.

Insurance, fees and moving here with a teen

Arizona does not make insurers discount teens who finish driver education, so ask your company what it offers. Fees change; check ADOT MVD's fee schedule before you go rather than trusting old numbers.

A teen arriving with a valid license from another state skips the six month permit requirement when applying for class G. Visitors 16 and up who are not residents can drive class D vehicles here on a valid home state license.