Meet Phyllis Welch of A Carefree Traffic Survival School

Today we’d like to introduce you to Phyllis Welch.

Phyllis, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I came to Arizona in 2009 after retiring from a 27-year teaching career, from Texas. I had reconnected with my high school sweetheart after 40+years and my best friend also had moved to Chandler about 6 months prior.

My fiancé had a friend who had run a successful Traffic Survival School for many years. Cathy and I met. She knew I was a teacher and asked if I wanted to teach Traffic Survival School. I had never heard of TSS and learned quickly that it was not the same animal as Defensive Driving. I was intrigued and went through the steps to get certified.

After teaching for Cathy for a couple of years, things started to change for TSS, which had always been governed by the Motor Vehicle Division, in that it was now going to go through a curriculum overhaul provided by the Arizona Chapter of the National Safety Council. Being a veteran educator, I knew the curriculum was long overdue for some updating and direction.

The new curriculum proved to be effective and interesting. Students assigned to TSS became engaged and encouraged. I enjoyed what I did and then began teaching for an additional TSS school. I was now traveling all over the East side of the Valley.

In 2014, things happened with my family that made me think that I needed to provide some security for them. I decided to open a school of my own and A Carefree Traffic Survival School come to fruition. I was then a one-woman show, traveling to various established sites to teach classes.

I began hiring teachers in 2016. I now have 6 employees that teach at 9 different sites around the Valley. We provide friendly, well trained, helpful teachers that communicate behavior modification and Arizona Department of Transportation facts to help our students achieve their goals and more.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For the most part, working with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division and the Arizona Chapter of the National Safety Council has been great. They both offer lots of technical support and a user-friendly registration system for clients. The ACNSC, in particular has been open to the needs of the school owners and clients enough to adjust key elements of their program to meet our needs.

Shortly after starting my school, the MVD required schools to have a “brick and mortar” office. In other words, we were previously allowed to run things from home offices but after that ruling, every school had to find an outside office space where you also had to teach classes. There was a lot of contention from various owners but, in the end, compliance has landed itself to better progress.

Inconsistency and spotty low enrollment is always unpredictable but it all balances out.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about A Carefree Traffic Survival School – what should we know?
We are a traffic survival school. Not to be confused with a defensive driving school.

A Carefree Traffic Survival School is licensed by the Arizona MVD and the Arizona Chapter of the National Safety Council (ACNSC). We offer small, clean class settings with experienced teachers. We are here to help those who have received a letter from ACNSC and/or ADOT Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) requiring the completion of a licensed Traffic Survival School (TSS) class. Classes are mandated to meet for 8 hours.

Our clients consistently let us know that we have indeed impacted their life and way of thinking. That what we have to offer them has changed the way they think about the choices they make, even if it is as simple as taking a wide turn. They see the consequences of impaired driving or driving recklessly on a personal level.

I want us to be known as treating everyone with helpfulness, kindness and understanding when some of them. have been going through a rough experience. We can help them by not treating them like they have done something wrong but that they have the intelligence to change their behavior. This helps everyone.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I pride myself in offering good client service. Some will tell you that we have gone above and beyond the norm to help them find the answers they need.

This is an offer we make before, during and even after they have been clients of ours.

Contact Info:

• Address: #11 Sundial Circle,
  Sundial Courtyard #32
• Website: acarefreetrafficsurvivalschool.com
• Phone: 480-907-9807
• Email: acarefreetss@gmail.com
• Facebook: acarefreetrafficsurvivalschool@trafficsurvival

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