Traffic School by Improv is an American company that provides behavior-based driver education,

traffic school Driver's education, driver education, driving education, driver's ed, driving tuition or driving lessons is a formal class or program that prepares a new driver to obtain a learner's permit or driver's license. The formal class program may also ...

defensive driving Defensive driving describes the practice of anticipating dangerous situations, despite adverse conditions or the mistakes of others when operating a motor vehicle. It can be achieved by adhering to general guidelines, such as keeping a two- or ...

programs, and workplace safety courses. The company employs the educational entertainment "

edutainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainment ...

" approach to teaching, which combines education with entertainment. The company claims that some of their courses "have shown a statistical improvement in reducing crashes and moving violations."

Company

Traffic School by Improv was recognized on '' Inc.'' magazine's list of fastest-growing private companies in America from 2012 until 2016. It was identified by the ''

Los Angeles Business Journal The ''Los Angeles Business Journal'', established in 1979, is a weekly newspaper and online news source in Los Angeles, California, which provides coverage of local business news. According to the ''Journals website, it has a weekly print circul ...

'' as one of the top 100 fastest-growing private companies in 2015. Traffic School by Improv's headquarters is in Woodland Hills, California. the company has a 4.7-star (out of 5) overall-satisfaction rating on ShopperApproved.com. Traffic School by Improv is one of several companies owned by Interactive Education Concepts, Inc. Established in 1994, Interactive Education Concepts also operates courses for drivers of all experience levels. Corporate fleet training and driving school partnerships exists under IMPROVLearning. Adult driver education, insurance discount, and court referred traffic citation courses exist under myIMPROV. Teen driver education and parent driver education resources can be found through DriverZ.

History

Traffic School by Improv was founded in 1980 by a Ukrainian-born entrepreneur, Gary Alexander, and the owner of the Hollywood Improv Comedy Club,

Budd Friedman Gerson Merton Friedman (June 6, 1932 – November 12, 2022), known professionally as Budd Friedman, was an American actor and comedian, as well as the founder and original proprietor and MC of the Improvisation Comedy Club, which opened in 19 ...

as Improv the Comedy Club Presents Traffic School. Early classes were held at the comedy club itself, on

Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts at Santa Monica Boulevard, at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. It ends at Lucile Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of Beve ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Free passes to comedy shows at the club were given to students.

Courses

Traffic school and defensive driving

Traffic School by Improv is approved by various state jurisdictions to administer defensive driving courses. The courses, which may allow traffic offenders to have tickets waived, fines reduced, or

penalty points Many countries have adopted a penalty point or demerit point system under which a person’s driving license is cancelled or suspended based on the number of points accumulated by them over a period of time because of the traffic offenses or infrin ...

eliminated, are intended both to entertain and to educate. In some states, auto insurance rates may also decrease. They offer ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, the ...

''-style games for students, and graduation parties for students who successfully complete the course. The company is one of several comedy traffic schools in California. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' magazine has attributed their success in California to "environmental factors: an exceedingly car-rich urban sprawl and one of the world's largest populations of out-of-work actors." Comedy traffic schools help actors working outside of show business make ends meet. According to Alexander, the company "use humor to deliver a very important message." The company also operates in states which prohibit "gimmicks or enticements, such as comedy or free gifts." In those states, the company operates as the American Institute for Public Safety with non-comic instructors. The company also offers classes online in partnership with Education Location, but most users who choose the online option choose a text-only version rather than streaming video of a comedian.

OSHA-compliance and workplace training

In 2014, Improv added a new website, www.ImprovSafety.com that offers safety training for employers. The courses, which are constructed with the same Improv principles used in their driver education courses, include the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...

(OSHA) compliant ''Don't be a Derk'', starring

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Anders ...

and

Kato Kaelin Brian Gerard Kaelin (born March 9, 1959), known as Kato Kaelin, is an American actor and radio and television personality, who was a witness in the O. J. Simpson murder case. Early life and education Kaelin was born on March 9, 1959, in Milwauk ...

Drivers education and insurance discount courses

While most customers who take a class are not novice drivers, the company also offers drivers education and insurance reduction courses.

References

{{reflist, 30em, refs= {{Cite web, url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3632354.htm , title=Accidental Laffs -- Defensive Driving by Impov uses Humor to Educate Arizona Drivers with Online Traffic School, date= February 23, 2010, website=PR Web , access-date=September 10, 2016 {{Cite news , url=http://www.cbs8.com/story/12530500/defensive-driving-by-improvtm-celebrates-one-year-milestone-offering-defensive-driving-course-in-new-york, title=Defensive Driving by Improv(TM) Celebrates One-Year Milestone Offering Defensive Driving Course in New York , publisher= CBS News 8 , access-date=September 10, 2016 , date = May 24, 2010 {{Cite web, url = https://www.myimprov.com/ , title = See why over 3 million students picked us as the number one choice... , publisher = Interactive Education Concepts Inc. , access-date = September 10, 2016 {{Cite news, url=http://www.inc.com/profile/interactive-education-concepts, title=Interactive Education Concepts , work=Inc. , access-date=September 10, 2016 , date = May 24, 2010 {{Cite news, url=http://www.cbs8.com/story/8321114/accidental-laffs-dmv-approves-first-online-comedy-traffic-school, title=Accidental Laffs: DMV Approves First Online Comedy Traffic School , publisher = CBS News 8 , access-date=September 10, 2016 , date = May 24, 2010 {{Cite web, url=http://www.prleap.com/pr/213072/education-location-introduces-new-online, title=Education Location Introduces New Online Driving School Partnership, date=November 6, 2013 , website=PR Leap, access-date=September 10, 2016 {{Cite web, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/automobiles/09COMEDY.html, title=Safer Streets Just a Chuckle (or an Enchilada) Away - The New York Times, last=Biederman, first=Marcia, date=July 9, 2006 , work=New York Times, access-date=September 10, 2016 {{Cite web, url=https://www.improvsafety.com, title=Improv Safety by Improv, publisher = Interactive Education Concepts, Inc , access-date=September 10, 2016 {{cite news , url = http://wlrn.org/post/i-got-pulled-over-did-traffic-school-make-me-better-driver , title = I Got Pulled Over, But Did Traffic School Make Me A Better Driver? , first = Wilson , last = Sayre , date = April 26, 2016 , access-date = September 14, 2016 , publisher = WLRN {{cite web , url = http://www.shopperapproved.com/reviews/myimprov.com/ , title = myimprov.com Reviews , publisher = Shopper Approved , access-date = September 14, 2016 , quote = "4.7 Overall Satisfaction Rating Based on 47,276 Ratings from Actual Customers" {{Cite web, url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130816005729/en/Driver-License-Direct-Improv%E2%84%A2-Offers-Online-California, title=Driver License Direct by Improv™ Offers New Online California Drivers Ed, a California Driver Education Course for First Time Drivers , publisher=Business Wire, date=August 16, 2013 , access-date=September 10, 2016 {{Cite news, url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/08/31/safe-laughs, title=Safe Laughs , last=Batuman, first=Elif , date=August 31, 2009 , work= The New Yorker , access-date=September 10, 2016 1989 establishments in California Driver's education Educational organizations based in the United States