Am I Eligible to be a Parent-Taught Instructor?
Parent-taught driver education in Texas allows a parent, stepparent, grandparent, step-grandparent, foster parent or legal guardian to teach their teenager how to drive. Parents and legal guardians may also designate an alternate instructor who must meet the same eligibility requirements.
Answer the questions below to determine if you’re eligible to be an instructor.
You are not Eligible to be a Parent-Taught Instructor
The answers you have provided indicate that you are not eligible to participate as in instructor in the parent-taught driver education program.
What's Next?
Your student still has options to:
- take a course at their public high-school, it it’s offered
- take a class with a commercial driving school
- take a parent-taught course with another parent, grandparent or legal guardian who may be eligible
If you believe that this may be in error, please contact the Education and Examination division and we'll take another look at what's going on.
You can Teach Parent-Taught Driver Education!
Congratulations! It looks like you're qualified to participate as in instructor in the parent-taught driver education program.
When you’re ready to begin, return to the How to Become a Parent-Taught Driver Education Instructor page to get a copy of your driving record an apply for instructor authorization.
Maybe. It Depends.
You might be qualified to participate as in instructor in the parent-taught driver education program.
Because you have held a Texas issued driver’s license for less than three years, you will need to provide a copy of your driving history from any other states where you have held a driver’s license.
The total length of your driving history (including your Texas driver’s license) must equal at least three years.
When you’re ready to begin, see the getting started with parent-taught driver education page.
Be aware that any future moving violations you are convicted of can invalidate your instructor authorization.
Instructors may only have one moving violation that resulted in an accident, or two moving violations that did not result in an accident within the past three years.
DPS will examine your driving record when the student applies for a learner license and again when they apply for the provisional license. If it is found that you have become ineligible to be an instructor, the license application will be denied and any hours you taught after becoming ineligible will also be deemed invalid.
