Teen driving course – ‘What we do saves lives’

The course will return to Rome this weekend.

In the eyes of Woodrow Gaines, basic driver’s education courses don’t go far enough in giving teenagers the skills they need to stay safe out on the roads for one reason: If it is effective, then why are so many teens still dying in wrecks.

It’s a fact that Gaines has been grappling with for 14 years as he’s grown his private nonprofit Fear This Inc. and taken his Teen Vehicle Operations Course across the state to spread knowledge of defensive driving to teens and their parents.

“It’s not acceptable for a teen to die in a car crash,” said Gaines, adding that despite the number of traffic deaths involving teens, American society lacks the passion to implement lasting change. “What we do saves lives.”

And on Saturday, Gaines is bringing the program to Rome. There are 13 area teens currently registered for the program, but he said his instructors, who teach the same skills at police academies across Georgia, can serve up to 45 to 50 over a weekend. A Sunday course will be added if the number of those registered exceeds 15.

The course costs $125 and consists of a classroom session at the Municipal Courtroom in the Joint Law Enforcement Center from 8 to 10:30 a.m., and more than four hours of hands-on training at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport from 12:30 to 5 p.m. The hours for the Sunday course would be 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for the classroom work and 1 to 5:30 p.m. for the driving portion.

Parents must attend with teens under 18, and those with learner’s permits must have already had 30 hours of seat time in traffic with their parents to attend.

“The course teaches critical skills such as skid steering, precision driving, and on-road/off-road recovery. Additionally, students will be exposed to various stressors to simulate physiological changes that occur in emergency situations,” according to the Rome Police Department, which supports the program.

According to statistics compiled by the Georgia Department of Transportation, the number of fatalities on Georgia roads increased by almost 4,000 between 2014 and 2016. The GDOT figures show 2014 saw 1,170 traffic deaths and by the end of 2016 that level had increased to 1,561 — as of Thursday night, there had been 604 deaths in 2017.

Those interested can register on the website tvoc.ws.