CINCINNATI — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants driver education back in public schools.
To get a driver's license in Ohio, drivers under 18 must complete a driver education class from one of the state's approved driving schools. Those classes include 24 hours of instruction and eight hours of drive time. Previously, driver ed was taught in Ohio's high schools. Now, it is almost entirely done by private businesses.
"Fran and I have heard from parents all over the state," DeWine said during his State of the State address. "They tell us — and we know from experience with our own kids — that driver training programs in Ohio are either not available at all or not available nearby. If they are available, the courses are often too costly, putting this training out of reach for many Ohio families."
Instead, DeWine said many teens are getting a temporary permit and waiting until age 18 to bypass the driver education requirement and get their license.
"The result is that there are more crashes and more fatalities among 18- and 19-year-old drivers than among 16- and 17-year-old drivers," DeWine said.
The governor's pitch would use state funding for the next two fiscal years to offset the cost, which can be between $500 and $700. Resources would be given to schools to create a driver ed class or enable them to partner with a privately owned one.
You watch how one driver education teacher reacted to this proposal:
"Seeing these kids go out in the real world and possibly drive, I want to keep them safe," said Joe Paul, president of Behind the Wheel Driver’s Ed. "Having your driver’s license is the difference between employment or unemployment or safety in certain situations, so I understand the impulse to get more people driving out there with more education."
Paul said he welcomes the push for heightened driver education, but given Ohio’s back and forth — and the lack of sufficient driver ed infrastructure on this issue — he has concerns about the long-term sustainability.
“The real problem in these small towns that have one driver’s school and if their high school does create their own, their business is going out of business. And if we lose funding for this high school drivers’ program, now there’s no driver’s school in these small towns," said Paul.
