texas dps
ANNOUNCEMENT: Changes to DPS procedure effective October 1, 2012
There’s an important change coming in the way that the DPS is handling the DE-964 form (this is essentially the Certificate of Completion for parent taught driver education). Beginning October 1, 2012, Teens and students that register for parent taught driver education will no longer be issued their DE-964 from the DPS; that form will actually be issued from your course provider. For example, as a Driver Ed in a Box® client, we will be sending you your DE-964 form when you are ready for your Learner License (Instruction Permit), and when you are ready for your Provisional (Driver) License.
What does this mean for you, besides changing where your DE-964 comes from? This change is going to mean that you can get started with your parent taught driver education course much faster than before the change in procedure. That’s because you no longer have to wait for your DE-964 to be generated at the DPS in Austin when you send in your DL-92 to register for parent taught driver education. This process used to take 2-3 weeks, and even longer in some cases!
Now, the whole process is streamlined quite a bit. There’s even an option on the DL-92 that allows the DPS to notify you by email when you are officially registered. Now, that period between when you send in your registration and when you can begin the course work has gone from a couple weeks to just a couple days! Good news, right? We think so, too.
If you have not yet registered with the DPS, just click on this link and follow the instructions: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/internetforms/Forms/DL-92.pdf
Watch this video to see Patrick Barrett, the Driver Education Guru, explain the new changes.
New Texas DPS Road Test Procedures
After talking with the Texas DPS and attending a session where one of their troopers was the main speaker, we thought we needed to alert you all to the changes in how the DPS Driver License Offices in Texas are handling their scheduling of road tests.
Yes, everyone must now take a road test (these are no longer waived) and, depending on the driver license office you go to, you may be able to schedule your road test online.
That’s right, you can go to the DPS website and schedule your road test online – if that driver license office you wish to go to offers that service. You can still go into the driver license office and schedule your road test in person. You may get a road test that day, but that may not happen if you are in one of the larger urban areas.
According the Esther Vasquez at the DPS, it still is first come, first serve. According to Trooper Sarah Cadan of the DPS, even if you schedule your appointment online, you must still go to that driver license office at least two days in advance to pay for the test and to verify that you have the correct paperwork.
Trooper Cadan also stated that by scheduling your appointment online, you are more likely to get an appointment sooner than if you go to the office in person and schedule an appointment. Hey, I found that hard to believe, so I asked her and she repeated that you are more likely to get an appointment sooner by scheduling it online.
Here’s the link to the DPS website:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/DriverLicense/OnlineServices.htm
The DPS is in transition with this service – some offices have it, some don’t. Be sure to check to check their website to get the up to date information on the location you want to use.
You can watch our video for more details.