The Maria Tiberi Foundation and Virtual Drivers Interactive each donated five driving simulators for use in Springfield and Clark County. This makes a total of 12 simulators, as two were donated last year. The simulators have custom software that teaches safe driving skills and addresses topics such as dangerous speeding, distracted driving, following too closely and overcorrecting.
“It’s been great deal of concern in Springfield in regard to the driving issue, with particular driving among Haitians. This is, I think, a very understandable problem,” DeWine said during a press conference Thursday. “Some of the people who are here are driving probably for the first time ... and also the laws and the norms of Haiti are just fundamentally different as far as driving than they are here.”
The state is stepping up to offer support for driver’s education programs in a variety of ways, including training offered in the Haitian Creole language. The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles driver’s manual has been translated into Haitian Creole.
Teens and driver training
DeWine has repeatedly expressed frustration that state law allows people 18 and older to get a driver’s license as long as they can pass the tests, without taking classes. DeWine has pushed for the state legislature to change that, pointing to data that the highest fatal accident rate is among 18- and 19-year olds, but it has not occurred yet.
“I’m going to be addressing this to the state legislature that law needs to change,” he said. “Whatever age you are, if you’re getting your license for the first time, you need to take driver’s training ... It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Clark County officials had raised concerns about high crash rates and immigrants’ unfamiliarity with Ohio traffic laws. The concern spiked after a tragic 2023 crash when a Haitian immigrant hit a school bus, killing one child and injuring several others.
Since then, Ohio officials have looked into ways that driver’s education training can be expanded, including as a high school elective course, so that it is more affordable and accessible for young drivers as well.
Multiple local driving schools charge teens $500 to $700 for the state-required 24 hours of classroom instruction, plus 8 hours of behind-the-wheel training. But many families struggle to afford that.
New simulator program
The simulators will be free to all residents, and state officials say they will help people to gain virtual driving training experience, while familiarizing themselves with road signs, lane markings and other concepts in a safe environment.
They will be placed at six locations:
* Three at Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center;
* Two at Clark County Department of Job and Family Services;
* Two at Clark State College;
* One at First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield;
* One at Life in Christ Community Church;
* One at High Street Church of the Nazarene.
DeWine said each site will have a translator and instructor who was trained to guide those in the program.
Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and a former Clark County prosecutor, said the simulators are in place and should be ready to go as early as Monday.
Wilson also said the Champion City Drivers Education opening up has doubled the capacity of drivers education opportunities, in which they have an adult Haitian Creole drivers training program, as well as the program at CTC, and they encourage employers to send their people there as well.
More training options
Bret Crow, director of communications with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, said Ohio awarded $4.5 million in funding to current and prospective driving schools to open and expand operations in areas of the state that had a need. Many of those grantees are high schools, career techs, and Educational Service Centers.
“We have also reduced the training requirements for teachers who wish to become driving instructors,” Crow said. “We are reviewing administrative rules to reduce barriers to high schools in providing driver education. These steps do not require legislation.”
The Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO) has also led the development of driver education curriculum materials in Haitian Creole to address the needs of Springfield’s immigrant community.
The OTSO staff is providing train-the-trainer classes to local organizations including the Nehemiah Foundation, the Gathering of Miami Valley, Clark County Job and Family Services, and the Haitian Community Alliance, that enable local trainers to provide driver’s education using translation services.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
The Haitian Community Alliance has introduced the Safe Driving Program and Ohio Traffic Show locally, providing education on state driving rules.
Jacob Payen, spokesperson for the Haitian Community Alliance, said they have been encouraging Haitians to go to driving school.
“We’ve been trained by the state through the train-the-trainer program,” he said. “We’re going to ensure the mentorship, but they have to go to driving school. That’s what we’ve been preaching to them. We have referred over 50 people to the driving school.”
Crow cautions that while the train-the-trainer event provided the tools and resources to the organizations to be mentors and train other mentors “the training is only in English, so potential mentors who do not understand English would not be appropriate attendees. It is intended that the bilingual train-the-trainer attendees provide the training and education in Creole (or whatever language is needed).”
It’s also important to note that the curriculum does not qualify participants to be licensed driver training instructors in Ohio. Community trainers who choose to practice driving with new drivers may not charge a fee to individuals without being affiliated with a licensed driving school.
Crow said the Ohio Traffic Safety Office has created a curriculum for new drivers that “provides an introduction to the basic driver licensing and traffic safety laws of Ohio. This includes things like when you need to get a license, how to get a license, what basic road signs and lane markings mean, and sharing the road with other road drivers.”
OTSO is offering support and resources to help schools provide driver’s education as an elective course. But as of now, there is no legislation in the works that would require schools to add the course to their curriculum.
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