GETTING AN OFF-ROAD EDUCATION CITY RENEWS LEASE ON STUDENTS' `STREET SMART' DRIVING PROGRAM.

Byline: LISA M. SODDERS Staff Writer

A pilot program that has taught nearly 1,000 rookie drivers the rules of the road will be expanded to all Los Angeles Unified high schools within a year, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said Tuesday.

The one-hour ``Street Smart'' course is taught by deputy city attorneys who specialize in traffic-related crimes. It educates students about insurance laws, what to do if they're in an accident and the dangers of street racing and drunk driving.

By the end of 2007, the program, which is cosponsored by NASCAR and the California Speedway, will be expanded to all 56 LAUSD high schools.

``Despite the staggering numbers of teenage driving deaths, most public schools no longer offer driver's education, and many students receive little, if any, instruction about responsible driving,'' Delgadillo said at a news conference at Los Angeles High School.

Many of the young drivers his office prosecutes ``simply did not know the rules of the road,'' he said.

High school students make up 7 percent of licensed drivers, but 14 percent of all traffic fatalities; they also are involved in 20 percent of all traffic crashes.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that from 1995 to 2004, crashes involving 15- to 17-year-old drivers killed more than 30,000 people, including nearly 20,000 passengers, other motorists or pedestrians.

Without school-based driver's ed, students have two choices to get their learner's permit: take lessons from a private instructor and put at least 50 hours behind the wheel with an older adult; or wait until they are 17 1/2 years old, when all they have to do is pass the written DMV test.

Los Angeles High School student Kenya Mejia, 17, said her father paid $200 for her to take private driving lessons, but she still found the Street Smart program helpful.

``I didn't really know that you have to be insured yourself,'' she said. ``I knew the vehicle had to be insured, but I didn't know that you, the driver, have to be insured.''

David Tamir, co-owner of Valley Bob's Driving School, Inc., in Woodland Hills, said any additional instruction will help, but was no substitute for behind-the-wheel training. The biggest factors in teen crashes are immaturity and lack of driving experience.

``It's something as basic as not knowing their car is going to move once you put it in gear,'' Tamir said. ``I get kids who can't even keep the car straight in the lane, let alone be able to execute a proper turn.''

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) Students at Los Angeles High School take the Street Smart oath during a news conference to announce that the driving program will be offered at all LAUSD high schools within a year.

(2) California Speedway President Gillian Zucker hands out tickets for a race to Los Angeles High School students who have taken the Street Smart oath during a news conference to announce that the driving program will be offered at all LAUSD high schools within a year.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer