Bainbridge High School was recently awarded a grant for $17,400 from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to be used in establishing a driver’s education program.

Since the passage of Joshua’s Law, which put new requirements on teen drivers, there has been a financial burden on families to get driver’s education. Now teens can have the option of taking the class offered at the high school as an elective credit.

During the 2008-2009 school year, there are approximately 120 students enrolled in driver’s education. The course is actually nine weeks of driver’s education and nine weeks of outdoor sports.

This nine weeks of driver’s education will fulfill the 30-hour classroom time that is required as part of an approved driver’s training program.

Effective since January 2007, all 16-year-olds must complete an approved driver training program in order to obtain a Class D license or wait until age 17.

This class alone will not meet the training requirement. The other part of this training is a 40-hour Parent/Teen Driving Guide that must be completed. The parent or guardian will need to complete each session of the driving guide with the student and the document will have to be notarized. Upon completion of this course and the driving guide, a certificate will be issued stating the student completed the driver’s education requirement.

This class will use a variety of methods to teach driving safety including videos, power points, discussions, and frequent quizzes and tests.

The two instructors are using a driver’s education curriculum called “Roadwise” and “Teen Smart.” This curriculum is an interactive series of information, questions and videos to prepare teens to drive.

Students enrolled in the class also received a Georgia 2008 Driver’s Manual and a Parent/Teen Driving Guide. Both of these describe the requirements for teen drivers in receiving both class CP and class D licenses. More information can be found at these Web sites www.ga.teendrivereducation.com and www.dds.ga.gov.

Requirements to obtain a license are determined by Department of Driver Services (DDS) and the state of Georgia.

Bainbridge High School will strive to offer resources to fulfill these requirements; however, DDS is the supervising authority for the high school program and the high school is not responsible for any changes in requirements or expectations.

This is just another effort to help make better drivers and decrease the number of accidents and fatalities by teens every year.

Contact Sheila Taylor, director of the Driver’s Education program, for more information, 248-2230.