Driver Safety Lesson

As a former instructor and trainer of the AARP Driver Safety Program and a former deputy sheriff, I was saddened to read this morning of yesterday's fatal accident involving two high school students en route to a Kane County high school.

From the article in the Chicago Tribune, it is logical to assume that they were running late. If they were five miles from the school and nine minutes from the class start time, they weren't going to make it on time - even on dry roads, no ice, no wind, no traffic, no red lights. By the time they parked and hoofed it to class, they were going to be late.

Being late to school, work, a date, or home after a date is not the end of the world. Most of us have cell phones. Just call and notify the person expecting you that you'll be a little late. If you get chewed out or are tardy, so what? Needless to say, don't let the use of your cell phone endanger you. If you need to pull over to call , do it.

As a pilot, I learned to multi-task and keep the plane flying straight and level. My instructor (a retired USAF pilot) barked at me often not to get so engrossed in reading a chart or using the radio that I let the plane wander away from the heading, altitude or speed he had ordered. I learned that course could change if I just turned my head to look out the window! Those reminders (and skills) have stayed with me. While I might think that I can use my phone or glance at a map while I am driving, I am, first and foremost, aware that, when I distract myself from the primary obligation to operate my vehicle safely, I increase the risk of driving less than safely. And so my awareness and attention go up, if I am doing anything except driving the car.

The lesson in this accident? When you are running late, be late.

Parents - discuss fatal accidents with your young drivers. It's not to "scare" them. Help them learn what they will need to know for years of safe driving. They will not learn it all in Drivers Education.

$150 Over-Charge for Driver’s Education

On April 28, 2007 the Northwest Herald carries an article on Page 6B about McHenry High Schools' Driver’s Education fees. If you had, have or will have a student in any driver’s education, be sure to read it. Go to http://www.nwherald.com/ and search for keyword “Vanover”.

Two years ago I raised this exact issue with Woodstock District 200 and asked them to explain and justify why a student was charged more than the $50 State-mandated maximum fee for driver’s education. Students were assessed $150 for the Between-the-Wheel driver training program. As I dug into the issue and learned about a Waiver that the Illinois State Board of Education would grant, I found that, yes, it was improper to include teacher salaries in the expenses of operating the driver’s education program. Salaries were to be covered as an expense of the high school and school district. HOWEVER, if the District filed an application for Waiver with ISBE for higher expenses and went ahead and listed salaries and IF ISBE approved the Waiver, then the high school could charge more than the $50 State maximum fee, even though an improper (illegal) expense (salaries) was included in their calculations.

And so a number of “creative” school districts did just that, including Woodstock D200. What I was unable to figure out was why and how ISBE could approve a violation of State law and why D200 would ask ISBE to approve a violation of the law. But it did, and they did. The result is that hundreds of students have paid an extra $150 to take driver’s education – a course required for graduation.

What should students and their parents do now? File complaints with District 200 and demand a refund of the $150 that they were over-charged.

Better yet, D200 should do the “right” thing and, before students and parents can begin to file complaints, D200 should be pro-active and inform parents that the excess fees will be returned promptly and start issuing checks!