Not your usual driver’s ed

COSTA MESA — Long before her son first sat behind the wheel of a car, Anne Dobbs made up her mind that one class and six hours of training wouldn’t be preparation enough.

The Redlands resident, whose son, Nathan, attends the 11th grade at Redlands High School, lost a boy from her church in a car accident a few years ago. When Dobbs heard that Driver’s Edge, a nonprofit that teaches teens to handle dangerous situations on the road, was coming to Orange County, she put her name on the waiting list — and waited a year for a space to open.

Saturday, she and her family finally ventured to the OC Fair and Event Center, where Nathan took a pair of written tests and practiced coming out of a skid, making abrupt lane changes and other emergency tactics.

As far as Dobbs was concerned, it was far more beneficial than the typical driver’s education class.

“They teach teenagers the basics of driving, but they don’t teach them what to do in an emergency,” she said. “Most adults don’t know what to do.”

Driver’s Edge, which is based in Las Vegas and leads workshops around the United States, takes behind-the-wheel training a step beyond learning how to signal and adjust the windshield wipers.

Founder Jeff Payne, who survived a car accident as a teenager, and the other instructors run the program to fight a disturbing trend: According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, road accidents are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds.

The 101 teens who entered the free session Saturday morning began by watching a video about the aftermath of a car accident, then headed to the fairgrounds parking lot to hone their ability to make split-second decisions. With green and orange cones forming a makeshift track, instructors drilled the young drivers on what to do when the car goes into a skid (namely, avoid hitting the brake and steer in the appropriate direction) and how to slam the brake hard enough to make an abrupt stop.

Payne, in his opening presentation, reminded the students that Driver’s Edge provided a rare opportunity to learn emergency skills in a safe environment.

“The worst thing that might happen to you is that you might hit a little orange cone,” he said. “And if you do hit a little orange cone, we’ll jump out of the car and put it back up so you can hit it again.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.