State officials want to reinstate drivers ed in schools, starting with grant funding

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio ( WDTN ) — At a city commission meeting Tuesday night, the Ohio Department of Transportation provided an update on highway patrol’s efforts in Springfield.

Director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety Andy Wilson was at the meeting with more information on data the city may use when focusing its resources on traffic safety. ODOT has been working since Sept. 11 to collect this data to help direct both focus and funding in Springfield.

Troopers have been patrolling high-risk areas for the last four weeks since the start of their “traffic blitz.” So far, they’ve made 744 traffic stops resulting in 411 violations.

Wilson reported traffic safety is a deep-rooted issue in Ohio, as driver’s education is often unattainable for many potential drivers due to high costs.

ODOT is working to change that through grants for driver’s education. One recipient of this grant is the Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center which received around $700,000 for a driving school.

“We certainly want it to become part of the curriculum. But we certainly want them to be able to take it for free or at a very reduced cost,” said Wilson.

Since Ohio’s removal of driver’s ed from the school curriculum, private companies moved in to fill that vacuum, sometimes at an unattainable cost.

Wilson says he and Gov. Mike DeWine are working piece by piece to begin reimplementing driver’s education back into schools to make Ohio’s road safer and driver’s ed more accessible.

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