The number of traffic schools in Florida has nearly doubled since 1994, and the courses now include online and video options.
By TOM ZUCCO
Published August 3, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Jenn Handley had her driver's license for eight days when she got her first traffic ticket: failure to yield. The fine was $80; the embarrassment, extensive.
Within a week, the 16-year-old from St. Petersburg got another surprise. More than a dozen postcards and brochures arrived in the mail from bay area traffic schools.
The schools, which find the names of traffic offenders by searching public records, promised she could have the three points for the violation deducted from her driving record, her fine reduced and possibly her insurance rate not raised.
She could complete the course at home, either by going online or watching a video. All for about $35 and four hours of her time.
The public school system in Florida might be struggling. But the traffic school business is on a roll.
In the early 1980s, there was only one traffic school available in Florida, run by the National Safety Council. But by 1990, the field was opened to competition and the schools began to proliferate.
Between 1994, when the state deregulated traffic schools, and last year, the number of drivers in the state increased 23 percent. But the number of traffic schools increased 179 percent. In 1994, there were 77 basic driver improvement schools in Florida. Today, there are 215.
"You can operate these things with very low overhead: Just rent a room in a motel and hold the class there," said Jim Roberts, who runs the Safer Dixie Driving School out of his office in a Pinellas Park shopping center. "Especially if you don't have your own classroom. You could even operate out of your house."
Roberts, 59, opened a driving school 12 years ago and started offering the driver improvement classes about three years later. He has two full-time and two part-time instructors.
"You can make good money," he said.
Driver improvement classes are available to people charged with violations that would result in points being assessed to their driving records. Those charged with criminal violations such as DUI or leaving the scene of an accident can't take the class.
Drivers who complete the course have adjudication withheld, which means no points are assessed against their record; fines may be reduced by as much as 18 percent, depending on county guidelines; and insurance companies can't impose added premiums or refuse to renew a policy.
Class instructors acknowledge, however, that rates often do go up when insurance companies remove safe driver discounts.
The state has approved 12 driver improvement course providers, from Absolute Traffic Academy to USA Training Company. Each provider contracts with individual traffic schools across the state to provide their curricula.
The courses cost between $25 and $45. The state gets $2.50 per student, and the course providers get a cut. The remainder goes to the schools.
Because there are more than 14.7-million licensed drivers in Florida who last year accounted for nearly 4-million traffic citations, the potential is enormous.
"It's highly competitive in that marketing techniques have flourished," said John Voisey, 50, a former Pinellas County sheriff's deputy who is now director of training for American Safety-Pinellas, a driving school Voisey's wife runs out of the couple's Largo home.
The schools flood cited drivers with direct mail, pick catchy names like License to Laugh Traffic School to draw your eye in the Yellow Pages and target the convenience market with home videos and computer lessons.
"I got calls from time to time from people asking that no more postcards be sent to them," Voisey said. "But we stopped using them because we didn't see a great increase in the numbers."
Roberts said: "With 215 schools, it's pretty competitive, but we seem to be picking up this summer."
That's a trend that could continue, he said, thanks to Florida's increasingly congested roads.
"Cars used to be more difficult to drive, but the traffic was nothing," Roberts said. "Now cars are easy to drive and traffic is horrendous."
And there is still a vast untapped market out there. According to the state Bureau of Driver Improvement, about 14 percent of those who receive citations complete driver improvement courses.
Dana Reiding, senior analyst at the state Bureau of Driver Education and DUI Programs, said the thought of spending four hours talking about driving, even if it's in front of your computer or at a comedy driving school, is too much.
"Some people think it's more convenient to just pay the ticket than to spend four hours in class," Reiding said. "They see it as a form of punishment."
That's exactly what Roger Bowen thought. Bowen, 46, of Seminole, attended a particularly dreary traffic class four years ago. So when he got another speeding ticket June 30 (and at least eight postcards), he expected the worst when he walked into Voisey's class Tuesday night at a Ramada Inn on 34th Street N.
"But this was different," Bowen said four hours later. "The class flowed really well, people asked a lot of questions, and it was informative, especially the part about air bags. I didn't know they deployed at 100 mph. It was well worth the $35."
When traffic schools were deregulated in 1994, the state's authority to inspect and regulate the schools was removed, though they must use approved curricula.
But the state does track how well the schools perform by reviewing students' driving records for three years after the course was completed.
"They (the schools) appear to be working," Reiding said.
But sometimes, it's not an instructor, live or on tape, who has the biggest effect on a driver who has received a ticket.
"The instructor I had talked about really pointless stuff like different types of anger," Handley said. "I mean, he did a really good job. But it had nothing to do with what my citation was for. I wasn't angry at anybody."
The junior at Northeast High School couldn't remember which school she attended, but said she sat through a four-hour class with about 20 other drivers. Did it work? Did the class make her a better driver?
"Not really," Handley said. "I got more out of my mom yelling at me."
