• State Driver Education Curriculum
• Driving Instructor Testing
• Donate Life PA
• PA Driver's Mannual

• AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
• American Driver Traffic and Safety Education Association (ADTSEA)
• Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (ADED)
• Association of National Stakeholders in Traffic Safety Education (ANSTSE)
• Foundation for a Drug-Free World
• National Highway Traffic Safety Association
• National Road Safety Foundation
• National Safety Council
• National Transportation Safety Board
• Novice Teen Driver Education and Training Administrative Standards (NTDETAS)
• Operation Lifesaver, Inc.
• US DOT Federal Highway Administration

In 1952, Pennsylvania began licensing businesses that they called private driver training schools. The word "private" was chosen by the Department of Education as a way to differentiate between public driver training, the traditional high school driver education program, and the unlicensed training of teens and adults by individuals and companies. The state thought licensing was a critical way to both ensure quality and also to have some control over the industry. It must be remembered that, in 1952, most adults over 21 did NOT have a driver's license. Adults formed a large percentage of customers for driving schools. The Department of Education stated that it did not want school-age students taught the same way as working adults. Many businesses felt that the policies implemented created training difficulties without improving quality. This was Pennsylvania's starting point for competition between public and private school programs.

In 1959, Pennsylvania enacted its version of graduated licensing. Drivers under 18 would be restricted in various ways, the most notable of which was a curfew between midnight and 5 AM. The stated purpose behind the law was to eventually require that all drivers under 18 be required to take a course in high school.

The Pennsylvania Association of Professional Driving Schools (PAPDS) was a 1959 merger of two existing groups of driving school owners, neither of which had a formal name. The first group, affectionately known as The Philly Lunch Bunch, was started in 1953. It was a once-a-month meeting of Philadelphia area school owners. Their primary purpose was to discuss ways to prevent the Pennsylvania Department of Education from over-regulating the driving school industry. The second group was less organized. It consisted of a handful of owners from the less-populated areas of the state, who would come to the state capital when problems with the 1952 regulations became a real difficulty. One such problem was the requirement for training courses that were not available in the state then. Another was the state's declaration that home pick-up of students was an unrealistic inducement and would have to be discontinued.

When the 1959 rules were enacted, it seemed the state might be trying to prevent private driver training schools from teaching teens under 18. People from the two groups met and felt that a formalized structure would benefit all. That was the birth of PAPDS.

Over the years, public and private driver education competition has gone from intense rivalry to spirited cooperation. PAPDS has remained the watchdog for the interests of private driver training schools.