Driver education returns for St Johns students

St Johns County Tax Collector Dennis Hollingsworth reported to Historic City News that 91% of this school year’s public school teens have passed their road signs and road rules exams — on the first try.

In partnership with the St Johns County School District, Hollingsworth said that selected St Johns County Schools now offer driver education courses for teens seeking their learner’s permit.

“Prior to the driver education program, teens visiting our offices in 2010 had a first-time fail rate of 47-to-52 percent on average when taking their exams for learner’s permits,” Hollingsworth told reporters. “That we would achieve an improvement of nearly 100 percent was beyond any expectations we had for the program, especially during the inaugural year.”

Teens seeking their learner’s permit receive 12 hours of free classroom instruction about road rules and signs. Exams are administered in the class, thereby reducing the amount of time the teen and parent must spend at our office obtaining the actual permit.

Our program is now entering its second year and second phase, which includes behind-the-wheel training for eligible graduates of the learner’s permit program. Six hours of classroom training and 24 hours of actual driving time will augment classroom learning for those seeking their operator license.

The American Automobile Association has provided a computerized driving simulator to the program to help students better understand the negative impacts of distracted and impaired driving.

The skills test will be administered onsite for those seeking their operator’s license, again reducing the time parents and teens must spend at the office.

Learner’s Permit Class Schedule 2012-2013
Sign up online at www.sjctax.us
Class limit: 50

Starting Dates:

Bartram Trail
Sept. 10
Nov. 2
Jan. 28
Apr. 2

Creekside
Sept. 27
Nov. 26
Feb. 14
Apr. 18

Allen D. Nease
Sept. 27
Nov. 26
Feb. 14
Apr. 18

Pedro Menendez
Oct. 15
Jan. 7
Mar. 6

Ponte Vedra
Oct. 15
Jan. 7
Mar. 6

St. Augustine/St Johns Tech
Sept. 10
Nov. 2
Jan. 28
Apr. 2