The Judges of the Metropolitan Davidson County General Session Court formally began the Traffic School in 1983. The school began with the State of Tennessee approved two-hour First Offenders Training (FOT) course with approximately 10,000 students per year and has evolved to a nationally recognized National Safety Council traffic school with approximately 40,000 students per year. Course offerings have grown from the original two-hour FOT class to include Alive at 25 (A25), Defensive Driving Courses 4 and 8 (DDC-4 & DDC-8) and the Attitudinal Dynamic of Driving (ADD-8). In August, 2005, the General Sessions Court Traffic School was approved to offer the FOT and DDC-4 classes On-Line through the National Safety Council.
In 1983, the school was offering 40 classes per month and had one part time instructor. Today the Traffic School conducts 180 classes per month and has 19 part time instructors and one full time instructor teaching A-25 to 2500 high school students in 10 high schools.
Today...
The GeneralSessionsCourtTrafficSchool is a state licensed Training Agency of the National Safety Council, The General Sessions Court Traffic School is part of the General Sessions Court’s approach to promoting safer driving habits among the DavidsonCounty motoring public.
The GeneralSessionsTrafficSchool is still functioning in temporary quarters located in MetroCenter to accommodate the renovation and expansion of downtown judicial facilities.
The SafetyCenter staff provided for Court supervised driver safety classes for first and repeat offenders and impressionable operators under the age of 25. The National Safety Council approved classes were provided to 41,839 in 2004 and 44,184 in 2005. Classes are taught in temporary facilities in MetroCenter as well as downtown Nashville.
Traffic Safety classes serve as educational alternatives to monetary retribution but are self-sustained and contribute a profit to Metro Government’s General Fund through the collection of enrollment fees. The GeneralSessionsTrafficSchool’s gross revenue was $1.5 million in 2003 and exceeded $2.39 million in 2005.
The court provides defensive driving courses to the Davidson County Public Schools through Lifetime Wellness Class curriculum. Currently the GeneralSessionsTrafficSchool is teaching in 9 Davidson County High Schools. In 2003, 2,116 Metro high school students graduated from the National Safety Council’s Alive at 25 curricula. In 2004, 2300 students in 9 Metropolitan High Schools enrolled in the Alive @ 25 classes and 1,941 students successfully completed the course and were awarded certificates.
For nine consecutive years, the GeneralSessionsTrafficSchool has been recognized by the National Safety Council for its outstanding performance in the administration of defensive driving courses, most recently (2004) receiving "Best Performance" awards for training achievement in DDC-4, DDC-8 and Alive @ 25.
Home
