May 11
20
Reasons for choosing Parent Taught
1. Less expense – it cost $20 through DPS.
2. Convenience – Parent can do it from home.
3. Parents can drive, why not teach their own children?
Things to Consider:
1. Cheaper ???…
Most auto insurance companies offer a 10% to 15% discount off of teen’s insurance premiums after having completed a driver education course from a certified driver education school. Your insurance company’s discount alone can equal the difference in the cost of a driver education school’s tuition in less than a year.
2. Convenience ???…
Do parents really have an appropriate amount of time to thoroughly train their child like a highly trained professional ? All American offers convenient classes throughout the school year and summer that are suitable to most anyone’s schedule. Our curriculum is very thorough and covers every aspect of driving. Your Parent Taught packet can take several weeks to receive. This program also requires you to work through the DPS, which involves the parent encountering lengthy lines in order to register as the teacher. The parent must affirm that they will follow all aspects of the program as outlined. We have had a numerous amount of parents who have started this program and become overwhelmed, then come to us to enroll in our program.
3. Parents can drive, therefore can teach ???…
Students have observed their parents’ driving for years and most likely at times have seen some bad driving habits. This can make it more difficult for parents to instill the proper driving habits and attitudes that we stress at All American. In addition, All American instructors have had hundreds of hours of training and receive additional recertification training on a yearly basis. Perhaps the most important factor is that the parent car is not equipped with an instructor brake and an additional rear view mirror. Student safety is our utmost concern and we equip our cars and train our instructors with that in mind.
A Study by Texas Transportation Institute The Parent Taught (PT) was introduced in 1997 and since that time the number of teen accidents and deaths have been on the rise. In April of 2007, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) released an extensive report comparing PT to professional Driver’s Education schools. Their findings show that teenagers taught to drive by someone other than a professional driver education instructor are more likely to be involved in a serious traffic crash. The study found that after supervisory and Graduated Driver License restrictions are removed, PT drivers are nearly three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than young drivers taught by commercial driving school instructors. Parents are not required to complete any training, whereas DE Instructors are required to complete a rigorous 135 hour course of in-car and classroom training before being certified to teach teens to drive. TTI’s study found that (Parent-Taught) novice drivers were more likely to be convicted of driving violations, including speeding and more likely to be in a serious crash. In the six months of driving experience following the learners’ permit period, (as soon as the student receives their license) PT drivers were involved in nearly 50 percent more crashes, in which at least one person received a serious injury. Similarly, during the year following the period where the student is supervised by an adult, PT drivers were involved in fatal crashes at a much higher rate than teens who completed commercial driving school education. They also learned that most parents don’t read or teach the entire DE curriculum, leaving out important information.
As a result, Texas Legislation is considering the following improvements: Strengthen the criteria for parental participation in the PT program, including the disqualification of parents with poor driving records. Require training and/or testing for parents who want to teach their children to drive. Improve the monitoring of and accountability for the activities of the Parent Taught program. Require road tests for all drivers under the age of 18 before granting a license. **The study was conducted by TTI for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and involved analysis of 1.4 million driver records, a mail survey of young drivers and nine focus groups of teen drivers, their parents and driver education instructors. Give us a call if you need more information or want to discuss the Parent Taught Program and/or the curriculum we offer at All American.
