Helping Hold Down Insurance Costs Puts Industry in Fast Lane : People Race to Get Into Traffic Schools

Every day throughout California, a ritual takes place: A fidgety group of students stares blankly at the teacher they will face for almost seven hours. Papers shuffle. Eyes roll upward. Classmates subtly check each other out.

High school? Not at all. The instructors are more likely to hail from the police academy than teachers college. And the students are grown-up motorists--who have steered afoul of the traffic laws. “The fastest I’ve ever had in class was 135 miles per hour,� recalls instructor Steve Verret of one memorable traffic offender. “It was a deputy sheriff on personal time in his Porsche.�

Welcome to the peculiar world of traffic violator school, a fast-expanding industry that serves a statewide market of fast-moving or otherwise errant drivers. People who have gotten collared while behind the wheel are able to take the course--with court permission--as a way to keep down their insurance premiums, clean up their driving records and avoid a fine.

And if an outing on the highway suggests that California drivers are a--well--innovative lot, the same must be said for the burgeoning batch of schools that seeks to reform them.

Some rely on the driver’s education terror genre, showing such films as “Red Asphalt� and “So Long, Pal� (about a drunk who drives his family over a cliff). Others cater to more gentle souls, featuring movies with Disney characters.

A growing group features classes taught by professional comedians such as Verret, who likes to tell traffic tales about his mythical Cajun Uncle Boudreaux, and his past students--like the woman who, mistaking a radar gun for the real thing, pointed her car at the officer and tried to run him over. To teach traffic school, an instructor must pass a state exam that covers various traffic-related topics, be over 18 years old and hold a California driver’s license.

Some schools target the booming population of immigrants, with classes available in Spanish, Farsi, Korean, Armenian, Chinese (both Cantonese and Mandarin), Hebrew and Vietnamese. One offers students a gratis billete de loteria-- free lottery ticket. Schools promise meals, cut-rate fees, a low-stress environment and other lures to capture their share of the growing market.

“It’s a big business,� said presiding Judge Charles G. Rubin of the Beverly Hills Municipal Court, who serves on a group that advises the state Department of Motor Vehicles on the subject. He repeats for emphasis: “ A big business. “

Actually, it is not very big by the standards of private industry but it is getting bigger all the time. Last year, about 750,000 errant California motorists gathered in acting studios, bowling alleys, YMCAs, meeting halls and more conventional classrooms to learn the error of their ways. That is a dramatic rise from the 500,000 students counted as recently as 1984, although part of the increase may reflect better reporting.

Born as a Kiwanis Club driver-safety project in the Santa Clarita Valley 20 years ago, the concept has caught on among court jurisdictions to the point where there are now 366 schools, according to the DMV, 30% to 40% of them in Los Angeles County alone. With an average fee of about $20 to $25--the price tag varies considerably--revenue in the state has reached the $17-million range.

And in an attempt to conquer the growing market, some have concocted eye-catching names--much to the chagrin of Rubin and other judges who complain that this mocks the dignity of the courts. Schools named Letuce Amuse U Laf/Lrn Terrific Sch, Comedians Plus Learn From Us T/S, the Guaranteed Not Boring, and Lifesavers Entertains U Day & Nite TS all promise a light approach. Hi Tech TS/Witty Nstrctrs/Ins Info2 school woos technology-minded traffic offenders with its promise of computer-generated graphic presentations. And the Cheap School--well, you get the idea.

Michael Busch, owner of Hi Tech TS/Witty Nstrctrs/Ins Info2, said the names simply reflect the importance of standing out in the court-supplied list of schools: “You get a ticket. You go to the window. You’re given a list. Who are you going to call?�

Mark Zupan, a University of Southern California assistant professor, called a school earlier this year after getting collared for doing 70 m.p.h. on the Ventura Freeway while rushing to a seminar in Santa Barbara. The economist recalls that one classmate spoke unrepentantly of racing down the Pacific Coast Highway at 100 m.p.h. and another bragged of doing double the limit in a 35 m.p.h. zone. “I couldn’t see how this would have much of an effect to deter speeding,� he recalls of the class, which the teacher let out an hour early.

While the traffic program is aimed at those caught for speeding, running red lights, rolling through stop signs, illegal U-turns and other moving violations (not including more serious offenses such as drunk driving), those who attend have more than safety on their minds. The incentive is basic: keeping down insurance premiums.

DMV Sets Guidelines

The DMV routinely sells driving records to insurance companies, which can hike rates by hundreds of dollars for those with dismal performances. Traffic school, designed in part to ease the load of overburdened courts, can provide an escape route. The state will not notify insurers of an infraction if a driver commits only one in a 12-month period--and also takes the course.

Also, depending on an individual’s record, going to traffic school can keep a ticket from being toted up in the state’s point system, through which a certain number of moving violations will trigger the suspension of a license. Courts decide for themselves whether to participate in the program, and most do, though some require tougher standards than the state minimum.

Under the DMV guidelines, class must last 400 minutes, not counting time off for lunch. Instructors are required to go over defensive driving, how to avoid accidents, the dangers of alcohol, fatigue, health issues, auto maintenance and various legal and licensing matters. In addition, the state seeks to keep up standards through its authority to license schools.

Yet in Los Angeles, where sizzling highways are also melting pots, problems emerge that are beyond the scope of any bureaucratic guideline.

Just ask Serge Mnatzakanian, a native of Iran, who teaches classes both in English and Armenian at the Omni Traffic School in Glendale. Mnatzakanian, who toils otherwise as an electronics instructor, pointed out that “sometimes it says ‘no left turn from 4 to 6 p.m.’ and they (immigrants) aren’t capable of reading that.�

Some Courts Offended

And sometimes the newcomers are not capable of communicating with the police very well either--as one hapless student found to his own discomfort. As the teacher tells the tale, the newly arrived Armenian-Iranian got pulled over for speeding, then tried to apologize frantically in poor English--so poor, in fact, that the well-meaning but confused cop “took him to the hospital and had his stomach pumped.�

Then, there’s the more intentional humor by the schools with funny names, a trend that has emerged in the last few years. But the practice, designed to court traffic offenders, is offending some of the traffic courts. In May, the presiding judges of Los Angeles County municipal courts said they were considering an official request to the DMV to delete names of schools that refer to “entertainment, amusement, refreshments and stress reduction� from the list of traffic schools distributed to ticketed drivers.

According to Judge Rubin, the funny names are disrespectful of the courts and inconsistent with driver education, giving offenders the signal to “Go out and have a good time--and have some snacks while you’re at it.� The DMV, which sympathizes with the judges’ view, says it lacks the legal authority to delete the names.

While the appropriateness of using humor to market traffic schools may be debated, there is no question that it’s an effective strategy. G. Vernon Hensel, president of the Traffic School Assn. of California, which represents 15 more-traditional schools in Los Angeles County, hazards an estimate that the comic competition has captured 15% to 20% of the industry. “It’s a great gimmick,� said the former racing driver, whose own school--7 Days-A-Week & Evening Classes--prefers police to comics as instructors, “but we think murdering people on the highways is serious. A car is a deadly weapon.�

Can Laugh and Learn

Those with the comedy schools retort that they can better reach apathetic students by delivering their message in easy-to-take form than by relying on a conventional approach. Verret, 26, the comedian who works for Letuce Amuse U Laf/Lrn Terrific school, recounts the misadventures of his students--such as the guy who reputedly was driving 60 miles an hour while “his friend is hanging out the passenger window working under the hood�--to make a point.

“We laugh about it,� said the native of Southwest Louisiana, “but we do get serious, and by the end of class they know not to do those things anymore. Why not make people laugh and learn at the same time?�

Ray Regan agrees. He and his wife were so pleased with the success of Letuce Amuse U, which they pioneered as the first comedy-traffic school three years ago, that they went on to launch Comedians Plus Learn From Us more recently. “Traffic school doesn’t have to be punishment,� he maintains. “The public doesn’t want to hear sermons. They want to hear facts in a way that makes sense to them.�

In an effort to make sure that the classes meet standards, the DMV has contracted with the nonprofit California Safety Council, which uses a corps of about 60 inspectors to make unannounced visits to classrooms. School records are looked at four times a year. The odds that a class will be visited are one in 10, according to Douglas H. Hinesley, executive director of the Orange County-based council. “We give as many reports saying that the instructor was excellent as we do saying the guy made an error,� he added.

Monitors routinely identify themselves, except when the DMV suspects that something is amiss. The department has launched 36 investigations over the last two years, most often of schools suspected of offering certificates while providing only partial class time or none at all, said Mario Balbiani, who manages the traffic violator school program for the DMV. As a result of the investigations, nine schools have lost their licenses, two other licenses have been suspended and four schools given warnings. Other cases are pending.

Results Are Mixed

Yet while some say that the enforcement actions show that traffic schools are under pressure to meet standards, others question the effectiveness of the entire program--whether the teacher is a laughing comedian or a steely faced patrolman.

Study results have been ambiguous or outright discouraging. A recent DMV analysis of 77,000 traffic school graduates found that their driving records over a subsequent six-month period were better than those of a group with particularly dismal records, who also were followed up. But the traffic school graduates still performed more poorly than a random sample of the public. A 1979 study by the DMV raised “strong doubts about the efficacy� of most traffic violator safety schools, according to the earlier report.

“I’d like to believe that they’re effective,� said Rubin, “but at this time I can’t say with confidence that they are.� The judge added: “Without question it helps some people. Whether it has an overall beneficial effect remains to be seen.�

In any case, California motorists continue to commit spectacular numbers of infractions, which suggests that the schools will have a reliable market for a long time to come. Last year, for example, the California Highway Patrol alone handed out more than 1.5 million traffic tickets, 1.1 million of them for speeding.

Despite the questions about the schools, DMV’s Balbiani maintains that they contribute to public safety by boosting the awareness of those who go, even if the benefit does not leap out from the statistics. “If they’re looking over their shoulder when they change lanes--even if they’re looking for a cop--they’re becoming safer drivers,� he said. “I don’t know if that’s going to show up in a study.�

HANDING OUT TICKETS California Highway Patrol’s most frequent traffic citations in 1986

Citation Statewide L.A. County* 1. Speeding 1,127,601 220,785 2. Drunk driving 139,292 27,759 3. Running stop signs/signals 91,043 29,187 4. Wrong side of road 50,948 7,327 5. Following too closely 44,137 16,779 6. Passing improperly 33,255 11,496 7. Turning improperly 29,530 11,515 8. Improper lane change 25,777 9,810

* L.A. County figures apply to an area that includes most of L.A. County, and small parts of Kern, San Bernardino and Orange counties.

Source: California Highway Patrol