Kay Ruen, owner of Always Right in Columbus Grove, said that it is important for teen drivers to have someone other than their parents in the car as teachers because the teens tend to not listen to their parents.
David Trinko photo illustration
LIMA — A lot of things have changed for student drivers since the pandemic began with the advent of online learning and now more changes could be on the horizon.
State Representatives Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) and Darrell Kick (R-Loudonville) recently introduced a bill to allow parents to use an app to cover a required eight hours of in-car driving evaluation, but local driver’s education professionals are not sold on the idea.
“Current law prohibits parents from providing eight hours of in-car instruction,” Kick said in a statement. “This legislation will change this prevision to allow it if the parents are using an electronic education device or application approved by the Department of Public Safety.”
Kay Ruen, owner of Always Right in Columbus Grove, said that she worried about the idea being taken advantage of by parents who might not have the time to do the required 50 hours of coaching on top of the eight hours that currently require professional teachers.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with me owning a business because it’s not going to hurt me if we shut down,” Ruen said. “We do this for the kids because we love them and we want them to have good driving skills. I just don’t think it’s a good concept from what I know and I don’t think it’s safe for the kids because some parents out there won’t do it and will just throw the app in the car.”
In their statement, Kick and Klopfenstein’s offices said that the new software would be used on smartphones or a car’s computer system to make education more accessible and cost-reduced.
“This change to driving instruction is completely permissive, and if any safety concerns arise, DPS maintains the ability to conduct evaluations of the application and would have the authority to approve or deny any application,” Klopfenstein said.
Sam Boyer, training manager for Elida High School driver education, said that the proposed legislation reminded him of Texas laws that allow parents to train their children to drive.
“And then when they went to the exam station, they signed off on the training,” he said. “I assume this legislation is along those same lines, but done by a machine. As a parent, I wouldn’t do it and as a professional, I wouldn’t encourage it.”
Ruen said that there is no accountability to begin with for the required 50 hours that parents must spend coaching their children.
“They don’t have to prove it; they just have to sign it,” she said. “We drive them eight hours and they might have two to five hours with their parents because they’re too busy. I would say that probably 70 percent of parents don’t drive their kids the full 50 hours so if they’re going to let them drive their kids, what kind of drivers are we going to have?”
Ruen added that it is important for teen drivers to have someone other than their parents in the car as teachers because they tend to not listen to them.
“Kids don’t want to ride with their parents,” she said. “We give private lessons and the parents say they don’t listen to them sometimes. That’s normal for kids, but it doesn’t change that they think they know everything at their age.”
She added that even eight hours of professional teaching might not be enough.
“I think that a professional needs to drive,” Ruen said. “I’ve always said it should be eight hours of classroom and 24 of driving.”
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported in 2023 that teen drivers are nearly three times higher at risk for fatal car crashes than drivers age 20 or older.
Those kinds of numbers, along with the amount of distracted driving she notices daily, have Ruen advising families of teen drivers not to cheat their kids.
“Have a professional drive them,” she said. “The state has programs for people that can’t afford driver’s ed. Parents can go to the county or the state and ask for help if the cost is too much, but (the legislation) is just not good.”
House Bill 415 has been introduced, but is yet to be assigned to a committee.
A Senate bill, 218, though, introduced in January by Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster), calls for the same motion and has been assigned to the transportation committee.
The Lima News reached out to Governor Mike DeWine for comment on both bills.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
