Seattle Public Schools | Traffic Education

The Seattle School District offers traffic safety education classes to students who are at least 15 years old and are eligible to attend a secondary school (public or private). The course is approved by the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The purpose of our program is to help students to become efficient, knowledgeable and responsible drivers.

The Seattle Public Schools has operated a driver-training program for over 40 years. All of our teachers are certificated with a traffic safety education endorsement through the Superintendent of Public Instruction and receive updated information and training every year. Our instructors average 17 years of experience teaching driver education.

The Traffic Safety Education course teaches students about the skills, judgment and attitudes essential to safe and skillful driving. The program provides the young driver with the opportunity to learn about the driving task, rules of the road, driver responsibilities, and how to make reduced-risk decisions while driving. A unit on alcohol/drugs and driving and the Seattle Defensive Driving system are part of the curriculum.

As part of the course students will practice basic and defensive driving strategies in a variety of traffic situations. In addition, they are expected to practice between driving sessions with a licensed driver who has at least five years of driving experience.

Before the student applies for his/her license, a parent or guardian (who has held a valid driver license for at least five years) is required to provide a minimum of 50 hours of supervised driving practice of which 10 should be at night. The Department of Licensing (DOL) will require the parent/guardian to certify that these conditions have been met when the student applies for her/his driver license.

Several driving schools have opened since the DOL became the oversight agency for commercial driving schools. Many provide excellent training, but some do not. Whether you choose the Seattle Public Schools traffic education program or a commercial driving school we recommend that you consider the importance of enrolling your student into a reputable school.

Department of Licensing web page

For more information, send email to Gerri Miller at gemiller@seattleschools.org

Traffic Education Office
1330 North 90th Street
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 252-4735

Related Sites:

www.wsdot.wa.gov/
Washington State Department of Transportation

www.pde.drivers.com
Traffic Safety Information Village

www.wtsc.wa.gov/resources/links.php
Washington Traffic Safety Counsel

www.nhtsa.dot.gov
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

www.k12.wa.us/TrafficSafety/
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Traffic Education Pages

adtsea.iup.edu
American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association