Before the Transportation Subcommittee of the House Finance Committee
Testimony on HB 53
February 12, 2015
Chair Grossman, ranking member Reese, and members of the subcommittee, my name is Mike
Morgan of AAA East Central and I am here today representing the Ohio Conference of AAA
Clubs. The Ohio Conference consists of the seven AAA clubs in the state and collectively
represents over 2 million Ohio motorists, your constituents.
It is with great excitement and hope that AAA responds herein to the request for input on the
Drive Toward a Safer Ohio initiative. As a public advocate for motorist safety and a long-time
provider of driver education in Ohio, AAA greatly appreciates the opportunity to provide input
to the plan. AAA’s comments are informed by its leadership in the NHTSA-funded Association
of National Stakeholders in Traffic Safety Education (ANSTSE), its past and ongoing research
into driving safety issues, and its 80 year history of providing educational materials and support
to the driver education community.
This document is intended to summarize AAA’s input on the Drive Toward a Safer Ohio
initiative. Of the whole set of initiatives, AAA wholly supports some as they are currently
written, supports others conditionally, and views others as not supportable as currently written.
As always, AAA staff stands ready to provide any additional details which might be useful for
the state’s consideration and deliberations.
AAA Supports as Written:
A. Increasing Behind-the-Wheel (BTW) time from eight to 10 hours
This would position Ohio as one of the only states to meet the Novice Teen
Driver Education and Training Administrative Standards for the amount of
Behind-the-Wheel training (10 hours)
B. Increasing ODPS’s regulatory authority
This would securely position the ODPS to more effectively sanction noncompliant programs, thus raising the overall quality of DE throughout Ohio
C. Integrating the behind-the-wheel and classroom portions of driver education
This would position Ohio to meet Standards 1.1.22 of the Novice Teen Driver
Education and Training Administrative Standards: “Ensure that the instruction
of novice teen drivers is complete using concurrent and integrated classroom and
in-car instruction…”
D. Expanding nighttime driving restrictions
This would be expected to enhance teen driving safety through effective
Graduated Driver Licensing
E. Enhancing penalties for driving-related offenses
This would be expected to increase the deterrent against unsafe driving
AAA Conditionally Supports:
A. Use of simulators to test teens in advance of taking the Ohio On-Road driving test
Such use of simulators should be fully informed and guided by recent research
detailing how simulators can be both (a) validly and (b) reliably utilized to assess
students’ driving skills (See Evaluation of Beginner Driver Education
Programs: Studies in Manitoba and Oregon, Sept. 2014)
B. Establishment of consistent Instructor Training
Ohio should adopt the forthcoming, full-scope National Driver Education
Instructor Training Curriculum, to be released by ANSTSE
C. Driver Education Requirement for People Age 19+
Ohio should require a six-to-eight hour driver education program for all new
drivers, regardless of age; the program should initially launch utilizing classroom
instruction, with exploration of allowing online programs to follow at a later date,
once the program is established
D. Allowing non-state entities to conduct the Ohio State Driving Test
AAA supports Ohio expanding the capacity to conduct the Ohio State Driving
Test by allowing qualified “third-party” testing. However, the ability to offer
such testing should not be restricted only to Advance Driver Training (ADT)
Programs.
 If Ohio’s goal is to reduce the number of tests conducted by state-employed
examiners, the solution that would accomplish the greatest increase in
capacity and access, and ensure state-wide availability, is to allow Ohio statecertified Driving Schools to conduct such testing
o Limiting conduct of the state Driving Test only to ADT programs
would result in greatly minimized capacity and reduced convenience
for students, and would inappropriately support only a narrow segment
of Ohio businesses involved in driver training
o There are many more state-certified driving schools than ADT
programs, maximizing students’ access and convenience
 AAA supports this move only under the following conditions:
o Both state-certified driving schools and ADT programs can offer the
Driving Test
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State-certified driving instructors are far more qualified to
conduct the Driving Test than ADT instructors, some of whom
have never even taken driver education, and have never taught
novice students in an on-road assessment environment
If the test is conducted by a state-certified driving school, the school
cannot test students that have completed its own driver education
program (i.e., Driving School A can test students who have completed
Driving School B’s driver education program (and vice versa), but A
cannot test its own students).
If the test is conducted by an ADT program, the student shall not be
required to also take any other instruction offered by the ADT program
 i.e., the ADT must offer just the Driving Test, exclusive of any
other offerings
 There is no research or safety basis for allowing an ADT
program to “count as” the state Driving Test; not only have
ADT programs not proven effective in reducing crashes in the
U.S., there is no indication that ADTs would be an effective
substitute for a state-administered driving test (See NHTSA
Report No. DOT HS 811-609: Examination of
Supplemental Driver Training and Online Basic Driver
Education)
Neither state-certified driving schools nor ADT programs shall not be
required to offer the state Driving Test
Any person wishing to conduct the Driving Test at either a statecertified driving school or an ADT program must complete a stateapproved Evaluator Training Program, and be certified by the state
 Ohio could simply use its existing protocol/curriculum for
training its existing state-employed examiners- no need to
create new standards, rules or training
The Driving Test is conducted on public roads, as has successfully
been done in Ohio for decades
Ohio builds on the “third-party” testing systems successfully used by
Michigan, Texas and other states in creating its own model- Ohio can
benefit from understanding how other states have successfully
integrated “third-party” testing
Ohio may also wish to consider limiting the range of fees that any
testing entity could charge students for the Driving Test
AAA Does Not Support:
Supporting or otherwise investing in a “state” curriculum
There are plenty of high-quality driver educations available to Ohio, and the
state’s efforts toward achieving “a safer Ohio” would be better accomplished in
other areas (See the Novice Teen Driver Education and Training Administrative
Standards for an abundance of opportunities to enhance driver education)
Additionally, AAA recommends that Ohio’s Drive Toward a Safer Ohio initiative be fully
informed and guided by the Novice Teen Driver Education and Training Administrative
Standards, which should form the basis for any state’s effort to enhance the delivery of quality
driver education. These standards can be viewed at nhtsa.gov/drivereducationprogram.
Lastly, AAA recommends that Ohio conduct a state-wide Peer Review State Assessment, as has
been done by other states pursing a stronger driver education program. Coordinated by NHTSA,
state assessments are invaluable in improving driver education, and have been conducted by MD,
OR, VT, ND, KS, DE and others (See nhtsa.gov/drivereducationprogram for more information
and review State Assessments).
AAA remains fully supportive of Ohio’s efforts to improve teen driving safety, and would be
happy to answer any questions or provide additional information at the state’s request.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Morgan
On behalf of the Ohio Conference of AAA Clubs