It’s tempting to choose parent-taught driver’s education. We understand that your teen is involved in many different activities and that your time and money are valuable. We believe your teen is even more valuable.
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It’s a BIG commitment.
- You may believe parent taught is cheaper--it cost $20 bucks with DPS. But is it really? Most auto insurance companies offer a 10% discount off teen’s insurance premiums for a three year period, IF they complete a driver’s education program. This discount usually offsets the tuition for Teen Drivers Education during the first year
- Convenience–I can do it at home. Because you have lots of time to teach? Most adults have very little time to teach the driver’s education material (1500 pages of information). Our school has convenient classes geared for a teen’s busy schedule. PLUS…with Parent Taught once you receive your $20 packet from DPS (which takes 6 weeks to receive) you must make a trip to DPS and stand in line to register to be your child’s drivers ed instructor. By registering you are agreeing to teach every task outlined in the classroom and in-car program.
- Parents know how to drive and can teach their own kids. In reality most parents acquire many bad driving habits over the years; (Do you always use your turn signal? Stop behind the stop sign or white crosswalk? Ever change lanes in an intersection?) And finally, the parent/teen teaching experience is very stressful and challenging at best and your family car has no instructor brakes or safety equipment.
The Risks of Parent-Taught Driver's Education
- Since 1997 when Parent-Taught Driver’s Ed was introduced, the number of teen accidents and death has been on the rise.
- Teenagers taught to drive by someone other than a professional driver education instructor are more likely to be involved in a serious traffic crash.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
link to online course
link to video they have to see. texas impact video
texas dps website link to their handbook!
USE THESE LINKS below
https://impacttexasdrivers.dps.texas.gov/ITYD/Links.aspx