Driving classes may go online

Driving classes may go online Ohio teens could learn the laws of the road online instead of in classrooms under a proposed change in state driver education law. Patton, who led the push to ban electronic devices for teen drivers, said he wouldn't have hesitated if one of his six adult children wanted to take driver's ed online. The proposed change is one of several amendments to the governor's main budget corrections bill, which is expected to reach the Senate floor Wednesday. Driver education school leaders oppose the change, saying teens could complete the online course with little oversight. Online companies also charge considerably less than brick-and-mortar schools - as low as $19 for one program. "If we're allowing people to get Ph. Texas studied parental instruction but did not distinguish between online programs. Preliminary data from Virginia indicated crash rates were lower among public school students taking the course in school compared to homeschooled students taking one of the approved alternative courses. A similar effort in New Hampshire stalled last month. On-the-road training is more expensive to provide than classroom instruction, they said. Driving schools don't oppose online classes, but would prefer a "blended" setup where students take most of the classroom portion online and meet in a class for tests and to discuss more serious topics such as drunken driving, said Dan Cox, president of the Driving School Association of Ohio. Fife is not opposed to online courses but said a teen may have a friend or parent take the course for them unless there is some classroom oversight. "We're talking about teenagers, we're talking about lives," she said. Tsifrin said his program and others led to more teens taking drivers education before becoming licensed drivers. "The idea that all learners are exactly the same ignores the contemporary research in education, which clearly identifies the kinds of learners who benefit from online education," Tsifrin said. The data is inconclusive on whether traditional online or traditional classroom instruction leads to better driving habits, however. Ohio requires drivers age 15½ to 17 to take 24 hours of instruction in the classroom, eight hours of driving and practice 50 hours with an adult. The lack of evidence supports the need for online courses, said Gary Tsifrin, founder and chief operating officer of DriversEd. Crash fatalities among California teens decreased more than fifty percent from 2004 to 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety attributed the drop to graduated licensing, which lengthened the permit period and added 50 hours of practice time. But students would still have to spend eight hours behind the wheel with an instructor - an expensive service driving school owners say will cost more if online courses are allowed. D Driving classes may go online Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 15/05/2012