There was already a shortage of driver education opportunities in Ohio for teens between the ages of 15 and 17.
There have been reports of waiting lists spanning weeks or months. And come September, young adults will also be on the hook to pay for the course when Ohio law will force even more to take 24 hours of driver education in the classroom and eight hours with an instructor on the road.
The requirement was added to the state's budget bill, which passed last month, and doesn't include any funding to expand access to driver education.
Gov. Mike DeWine proposed the changes to Ohio's driver education laws earlier this year. The law added the driver's ed requirement for people between the ages of 18 and 20 seeking a license.
Ohio's Teen Crash Dashboard shows that of the 97 fatal crashes involving teens last year, about 70% were the fault of the teen driver. Thirty-four percent of those at-fault teens had not received driver education. Most of those drivers were 18- or 19-year-old men.
“The governor felt very strongly that this was an important measure for public safety," said DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney.
"The governor's original-as-introduced budget did propose some subsidies for driver's education, as well as some pilots to driver's education in schools," he said.
But Republican lawmakers passed a version of the budget that included the requirement and took away the funding that would have helped low-income families pay for the classes, and grants to help expand the schools available.
DeWine planned to use money collected through the sale of marijuana, but lawmakers decided not to make changes to that law.
WOSU asked Tierney if the governor is concerned that the law will hurt the economic and educational goals of the state and young adults.
"We do know that's a possibility, but we also do know that this is going to create some demand. And usually in the state of Ohio, our business community reacts to that demand accordingly," Tierney said.
Tierney also said the change will spur the market to grow because the industry will now see more customers.
"A current market for 16, 17-year-olds might not sustain a driver's education school in some of our sparsely populated areas. If you then add 18, 19 and 20-year-olds to that next, then perhaps there is enough of a market that a driver's training school could be financially sustained," Tierney said.
In 2023 and 2024, the administration set some money aside to create two programs to expand access to driver’s education and reduce wait times.
While announcing one of the program in 2023, DeWine described the cost of driver education to low-income drivers as a "huge barrier" at a cost of $300 to $600 a course.
In 2024, Ohio Public Safety Director Andy Wilson said the state needed to "increase capacity in an overburdened system and fill training gaps across the state.”
One has given about 5,000 grants to low-income students to pay for a course.
But, in Franklin County alone, nearly 36,000 people ages 15 to 20 got their licenses last year, according to data provided by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Those grants were only available to students if an organization where they lived applied for and received the money. Seventy organizations applied but the state only granted 25 in 2022, while granting 35 in 2024.
The other program offered $4.5 million to start or expand a driving school, leading to 18 new schools and five expansions.
It's unclear what type of dent the changes made in accessibility, but many driving schools still have waitlists.
Dionne Smith launched Inspired Driving Academy in Lewis Center in 2023.
Smith was inspired to start the academy because the shortage was apparent.
"My son needed driver's education and it was a nine-month wait and so I thought how can I help this huge problem?" she said.
She considered becoming an instructor to fulfil her son's requirements.
"Selfishly, I wanted my own child to be able to drive because I was tired of driving him everywhere," she said.
But, there were so many requirements to become an instructor, Smith thought why not build an entire school.
"The last three months, even before the law changed, it just exploded, like we cannot keep up, which is a blessing in disguise," she said.
The driving academy currently has a waitlist of four-to-five weeks.
Now, she's already thinking of adaptations to the course work that will be more engaging to older students.
"We don't think that a 20-year-old is going to want to get on the ground and play with cars, whereas these 15-and-a-half-year-olds love it," she said.
Her younger students can come in for full eight-hour days to quickly get through those 24 hours of classroom time. She said adult students will need more flexibility and night courses, and may rely more on online courses.
"We're not just trying to give you a certificate and say have a great day. We really want them to learn," Smith said.
The relatively new business is thinking of growing to meet the demand, but expansion won’t be easy.
"When we first opened, we thought a staff of 10 would be a great max. Well, we've hit that and we can easily add to our team," Smith said.
Inspired Driving Academy instructor Leah Adkins is a close friend of the family and studying to be a teacher, so her role at the academy is a perfect fit.
"It's also been really cool to use the skills that I'm learning in my program in a different avenue," Adkins said.
Smith said most schools in the area are hiring. She knows because they've tried to poach her instructors. Smith also said the state is offering some help to bring new instructors on board, but it isn't easy to find people who are willing to do it.
"The training process to become an instructor is lengthy. There's quite a bit of education involved, so it takes a special person to be willing to go through the training and then to also sit in the car with a student who's learning how to drive...someone that's patient, someone that wants to give back to the community," Smith said.
Smith said retired coaches and teachers, along with people just starting in those fields, make good instructors.
