The Porch: The Importance of Tulsa County's Teen Driving Program Explained

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office runs a teen driving class to help limit the number of non-injury, injury, and deadly car crashes involving teen drivers.

Capt. Paul Tyon and Deputy Adam Bivens joined us on the Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch to tell us all about the open enrollment for next month’s driving class.

"The number one death for teens 16 to 19 is vehicle crashes," said Captain Tryon. "We've had quite a few around this area, so we started this program to try to combat that and hopefully save lives."

The next teen driving course is scheduled for November 16, and the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office is urging young drivers and their families to sign up as soon as possible. Deputy Bevin explained the enrollment process.

"They can go to our website and download the forms and print those out, and fill them out, and then email them back to us, and then we'll get in contact with them to make sure everything's the i's are dotted, the T's are crossed, and they're good to go," he said.

The classes are held at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds, with a mix of classroom instruction and hands-on driving sessions.

"We do the classroom portion up in the building. They're right on site. It's a half day in the classroom and a half day of driving," Deputy Bevin said.

Participants in the course receive various benefits, including a free lunch and the opportunity to learn important driving skills.

"They get to have fun. A lot of them like to go through the course because there are certain aspects of the course that we teach, like off-road recovery, and serpentine, because they use their own vehicle, so it helps them get used to driving their own vehicle. They used emergency braking. It's just something to make them more safe," Captain Tryon explained.

Deputy Bevin leads the classroom portion of the course, teaching the same fundamental driving skills that law enforcement officers receive, but at a slower pace and in a more controlled environment.

"We really want these kids to have a good fundamental grasp of how their vehicle works, and then how they can recover if they make a wrong decision or distraction comes up in the roadway, and just give them the skills they need to be safer drivers," he said.

The deadline to sign up for the November 16 course is November 15, as Captain Tryon emphasized the importance of processing all the necessary forms and paperwork on time.

"They have to get it in enough where I can check all the forms to make sure things are correct. So a couple of days before November 16, be the very last they could just do it," said Tryon.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office is committed to improving teen driving safety and hopes this course will help save lives in the community.

To Sign Up Click Here