Better instruction can save lives

Swerve Driver Training believes that better instruction can save lives on the road
Driven

Friday, July 20, 2007

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Clay Holtzman Staff Writer

At Swerve Driver Training, there is no such thing as an accident. In fact, the catch-all term isn't even uttered for fear of a $1 penalty.

The private, Redmond-based company has a no-excuses philosophy when it comes to hitting the open road. Drivers either prepare to drive safely, or they put themselves at greater risk of a mishap.

"We don't allow the use of the A-word," said founder Ross Bentley, a Canadian and former open-wheel racer who for decades has trained and consulted for students, government agencies and major corporations on basic and advanced driving techniques.

The five-year-old company has ambitious growth plans and wants to franchise its philosophy and training style. Bentley said Swerve wants to become the "Starbucks of driver training" and grow throughout the state, Pacific Northwest, eventually the nation and perhaps beyond.

This year, the company will train at least 3,000 students and employees with curriculum and training programs that demand students mentally focus on driving, know the rules of the road and, possibly most important, understand how to control their vehicles.

Within the past eight months, the company has expanded its network driver training sites from four to more than 20 and is on pace to top $1 million in gross revenue. Bentley says the venture should be profitable within a year.

The company spent its early years developing its own curriculum from scratch.

"Most driver's education programs are 95 percent concentrated on those traffic skills" like reading road signs and knowing laws, Bentley said. What drivers really need to know is how best to avoid collisions, how to drive in the rain and countless other real-world situations.

Bentley said curriculum development, which he oversees, has first revolved around preparing drivers for what they inevitably will encounter on the road, unlike many other programs that teach students curriculum that meets minimum state requirements.

For example, the company requires students to complete six hours of behind-the-wheel training while the state minimum is only four (a standard that will increase to six in September).

"Out target is to deliver the best quality product we can," said company CEO Fred Wright. "We are the most expensive in the marketplace, there is no question about it."

The company's new driver training program costs about $600 and takes about two months to complete. The company's other program, a collision avoidance course called "reality check," costs $300. The courses, taken in tandem, offer a $100 discount.

Bentley and Wright said the goal is to prepare drivers for what they need to know when they are behind the wheel. Congested roads and a new era of driver distractions dictate new skills demands.

But in addition to a contemporary product, Swerve's growth plans are being fueled by a strong market pull. Over the past several years, the market for private driver's education in Washington has been opening to the private sector.

In 2002, there were 240 driver's education programs in public schools -- the environment where most experienced drivers first began taking lessons. Last year, that number had fallen to 110, with more cuts expected this year.

"The number has been on a steady decrease," said Allan Jones, director of pupil transportation at the state Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction. Jones used to be the director of traffic safety education at OSPI but that title was dumped once funding was cut.

The reason for the fall-off is a complete drop in state funding.

During the 1999-2001 biennium -- the last state budget when the Legislature was fully funding driver's education in public schools -- Washington's statewide budget for driver's ed programs was $15.5 million a year.

By the next budget period, thanks to general tightening of the state budget, funding had been reduced to $2.8 million and was reserved for students from low-income families. Today, the state doesn't give school districts any funding for driver's education programs or schools.

However, Washington still requires all new drivers between 16 and 18 years old to take a driver's education course. So, not surprisingly, companies like Swerve Driver Training are jumping on the opportunity.

In July 2002, there were 119 private driver's education schools in Washington, according to the Washington Department of Licensing, which gives them permits. As of July 2007, there are 238 schools.

For Bentley and Wright, their company has more of a goal than making money. Teaching young and commercial drivers how to operate safely on the roads can save lives -- it's not something every business can say it has the power to do.

In 2004, there were about 6,500 teen fatalities as a result of limited driving skills, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Bentley says it doesn't make sense that parents will send their kids to the best college possible, but they view driver's education simply as a means to earning a license, not becoming a good driver.

"If they are not trained well and they don't learn to become a good driver, they may not -- and I hate to say this -- live to go to college," Wright said.

Contact: choltzman@bizjournals.com • 206-447-8505x149