COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio is about to make driver education mandatory for thousands of young adults, not just teenagers.

Beginning Sept. 30, anyone younger than 21 will need the same training as 16- and 17-year-olds:

Lawmakers added the new requirement to the state budget earlier this year at DeWine’s urging.

His office cited figures from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office showing 58% of fatal crashes caused by teen drivers last year involved 18- and 19-year-olds.

“Young people who go through driver’s training become safer drivers, safer for themselves and safer for everyone else on the road,” DeWine said at the time.

And research from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia backs this up.

A 2022 study of Ohio car crashes found that 18-year-olds —exempt from driver’s ed under the old law

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