The plan, which needs lawmakers’ approval as part of Gov. John Kasich’s overall proposed budget, also calls for additional fines for distracted drivers that would help subsidize driver’s education courses for those who can’t afford them.
Part of the plan would require kids to:
• Have 10 hours of behind-the-wheel time with a driving instructor, up from eight hours;
• Face passenger limits until they’re 18 years old, up from 17 years old now;
• Pass a simulated driving test before being allowed to hit the road for the BMV’s test.
Part of the plan also would allow first-time drivers to skip the maneuverability and driving test by taking a certified advance-driving course. Those younger than 18 still would have to complete regular driver’s education, which includes 24 hours of classroom or online instruction as well as 10 hours of behind-the-wheel training, in addition to 50 hours of driving with a parent or guardian.
Kevin Lackens, owner of Bick’s Driving School, which has branches in Middletown, Springboro and Lebanon, said his schools had about 1,300 students in 2014. He said any increase in the required number of driving instruction hours “is a good thing.”
“There is no substitute for experience,” said Lackens, who noted the No. 1 cause of teenage deaths was vehicle accidents. “The more experience, the better the driver. You can’t teach experience; it just comes with time.”
He said it typically takes five to seven years for a driver to become “an average driver,” according to the National Safety Council.
Before drivers are permitted to take driving lessons, they’re supposed to have at least 50 hours of driving with a parent or guardian. Lackens said when he gets a driver behind the wheel, he can tell how much training they have had.
Lackens said while a driver is receiving their eight hours of instruction, he sees improvement in their skill level. He said one male student, who only had 10 hours of driving with their parents, graded poorly on his turns because he wasn’t braking properly.
He said the biggest challenge for new drivers in judging the gap in traffic. He said some novice drivers are reluctant to pull into traffic, even when there’s plenty of space, while others pull directly into traffic.
He called “decision making” the largest obstacle for teen drivers.
A spokesperson for AAA Ohio said increasing the number of hours behind the wheel from eight to 10 can only improve a driver’s ability. Novice drivers are involved in the highest crash rate of any age division and that’s because of inexperience, said Kimberly Schwind, AAA Ohio spokesperson.
She said AAA also supports raising the age of teens allowed to have passengers 21 and under. She said a 2012 study showed that teen drivers with a passenger 21 and under in the car was 44 percent more likely to be killed in an accident than a driver with no passenger.
“Teen drivers should not be distracted,” she said. “That only puts everyone in the car and everyone on the road at risk.”
Schwind said in 2013, AAA surveyed parents about the possibility of extending the passenger limit, and 81 percent of parents of newly licensed drivers agreed.
Jarod Kiser, 17, a junior at Springboro High School, recently took eight hours of private driving instruction. He called that number “perfect,” and he doesn’t see a need for two more hours.
Kiser said younger, more inexperienced drivers, should have the limit on the number of young passengers because of the potential for distractions.
His mother, Anne Kiser, called the proposed two-hour increase in behind-the-wheel instruction “a little excessive.” When she was in school, driver education was taught in the public schools and now parents are forced to schedule the education into their child’s already busy schedule.
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