SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Mike DeWine announced 10 new driving simulators in Springfield.
He and the people in Springfield have expressed concern for the growing Haitian-American immigrant community’s adjustment to American driving.
“The laws and the norms of Haiti are just fundamentally different, as far as driving than they are here,” DeWine said.
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Translators and trained teachers will be available at each simulator.
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“We actually have people who are trained to teach people to drive, so you don’t do this and automatically go in and get your license,” Andy Wilson, director of Ohio Department of Public Safety said.
The locations of the simulators are also a strategic decision.
Places like churches that have built a rich, Haitian community.
“We know that those folks are coming in here on a steady stream. So we worked with the church, and we set up the simulator here,” Wilson said.
There’s one thing DeWine said he wants to make clear.
“These are all going to be available to anybody. I mean, this is not just targeted to one population. We know we have people in the community who need driver’s training period,” he said.
He said this also highlights an issue with state law.
People 18 and older only have to pass a test to get a license.
“Whatever age you are if you’re getting your license for the first time, you need to take driver’s training, and to say that once you turn 18, you don’t have training just does not make, frankly, make any sense at all,” DeWine said.
He said he is working with the state legislature to change that.
We will continue to follow this story.
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