Students wanting to pass their driving test might want to steer clear of Sharonville.
The Sharonville exam site on Reading Road failed 28.3 percent of the drivers who took the test there last year - the highest failure rate in the state, according to an analysis of BMV data.
Meanwhile, Hamilton County's only other test site, which is called "Seven Hills," and located on Hamilton Avenue in Springfield Township, failed 8.9 percent of its students. That ranked it 39th out of the 88 exam stations included in the analysis.
Compare failure rates at test sites
Elsewhere in Southwest Ohio:
Butler County's Hamilton test site failed 12.3 percent of its drivers;
Warren County's Lebanon site failed 8.8 percent of its drivers;
Clermont County's Batavia site failed 7.6 percent of its test-takers.
If you're looking for the site where you're most likely to pass, you'll have to drive a ways: the lowest failure rate in the state was in Napoleon, a city of about 9,000 people 45 miles southwest of Toledo in Henry County. Only one student failed there last year.
A spokeswoman from the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which oversees the BMV could not explain the disparities, saying any guesses would be purely speculative. But students and driving schools say that the Sharonville area is congested and complicated. Students must pass two driving tests to get their licenses.
In the maneuverability test, students must go forward and backward through a series of cones. Sharonville had a 26.9 percent failure rate on the maneuverability test, the third highest.
During the road test, students drive a pre-approved course on streets with an examiner, who assesses their driving abilities.
"Sharonville's a lot harder," said Kate Apfelbeck, 16, of Wyoming who is currently taking driver's education classes from Jeff's Driving School in Blue Ash. She said her friends and her driving instructors told her the Sharonville course is challenging because it includes one-way streets.
Because of that, Apfelbeck plans to go to the Seven Hills location when she takes her test in March even though it's a bit farther away. "All my friends are going to Seven Hills," she said. "A lot of Cincinnati kids go to Seven Hills because it's easier."
Drivers taking Sharonville's test often encounter significant traffic, must cross several lanes of traffic and must react to school zones and one-way streets.
Seven Hills easier
Tim Adams, an instructor at Bick's Driving School in Cincinnati, said he tells his students to test at Seven Hills because it's easier to pass there.
"Seven Hills is a little neighborhood," Adams said. "Twenty-five miles per hour, no hills, no curves, no lights, only a single lane, nothing but stop signs."
Last year 1,491 more people took the driving test at the Seven Hills site than at the Sharonville site.
"Everyone says Sharonville's the hardest because of all the traffic and the lane changing you have to do," said Jeff Tuffey, owner of Jeff's Driving School in Blue Ash. He said he tries to get students familiar with the area before they take the test. In one part of the Sharonville course, a student has to cross multiple lanes of traffic on Reading Road while approaching a stop light.
"They get nervous if they can't get over and run right through the light," said Tuffey. "I just think it's more difficult. There are more things to make a driver nervous."
While challenging courses might frustrate some test-takers, it also helps keep unprepared drivers off the road, which is a good thing, said Marge Schaim, an owner of the AAAA International Driving School which runs several driving schools in Greater Cincinnati and Dayton.
"There should be a certain level of failure rate at all test sites," she said. "People who don't have adequate training shouldn't be on the road."
State BMV officials would not let county examiners respond to questions.
Location, location, location
Ohio law says applicants must demonstrate "ordinary and reasonable control" over their vehicle before they get a license.
They must also take a separate written test on their knowledge of motor vehicle laws and their ability to understand highway traffic control devices.
Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Lindsay Komlanc said there is no definite answer as to why pass/fail rates differ, because of all the factors that come into play.
Testing stations attract different demographics and age groups with different skill levels.
"Any reason would truly be speculative as to why one (exam station) has a higher pass/fail rate," Komlanc said.
Changes in driver's education
Years ago, students could take driver's education for credit in high school. Not anymore. Schools dropped their programs, and now they are run privately, according to the Ohio Department of Education. It costs about $300 for a course that meets state requirements.
Anyone younger than 18 must take 32 hours of driver's education with a certified instructor - 24 in the classroom and eight behind the wheel. They must also log 50 hours behind the wheel with a parent or guardian.
Schools can still offer driver's education, but none do, according to Scott Blake, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education. Any classes that take place in a school are run by private companies.
Blake said the state used to provide a $50 subsidy per student taking driver's education. There was also a $50 cap on what the student had to pay. Both the subsidy and cap disappeared in 1999.
Schools must also get liability insurance for driver's education programs, which is costly.
Routes for the tests
As of Jan. 29, these were the routes used for driving tests at the sites in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties
Sharonville:
Route 1
Total Miles: 1.3
Total Time: 10 minutes
Right turn from back parking lot onto Hill (stop sign)
Right turn onto Main/Reading (stop sign/stop lines/one way/traffic signals/speed limit sign 25)
Left onto Creek (traffic signals/stop lines/school zone)
Left onto Maple (school zone/stop signs/stop lines)
Left onto Cornell (speed limit sign 25)
Left onto Oak (stop sigh/stop line/one way)
Right onto Walnut (stop signs/stop lines)
Right onto Main (stop sign/stop lines/one way/traffic signals/speed limit sign 25)
Left turn onto Hill
Left turn onto access road into parking lot
Route 2
Total Miles: 1.3
Total Time: 8 minutes
Right turn from back parking lot onto Hill (stop sign)
Right turn onto Main/Reading (stop sign/stop lines/one way/traffic signals/speed limit sign 25)
Left turn onto Walnut (stop signs/stop lines/traffic signal)
Left turn onto Spinner (stop sign/stop line)
Right turn onto Cornell (speed limit sign 25)
Right turn onto Oak (school zone/stop signs/stop lines/one way)
Right turn onto Creek (school zone/traffic light/stop line/sign ‘No right turn on red M-F School Days 7-5)
Right turn onto Main (traffic lights/stop lines/one way/speed limit sign 25)
Left turn onto Hill
Left turn onto access road into parking lot
Seven Hills
Route 1
Left out of parking lot onto Roosevelt
Right onto Spruce Hill
Left onto Blue Hill
Left onto Short Hill
Left onto Roosevelt
Right onto Spruce Hil
Left onto Seven Hills
Left into parking lot
Route 2
Right out of parking lot onto Hamilton Ave.
Right onto Seven Hills
Right onto Spruce Hills
Left onto Misty Hill
Right onto Pleasant Hill
Right onto Roosevelt
Right into parking lot
Batavia
Route 1
Right turn from parking lot onto Clough Pike
Right turn onto Main Street (traffic light)
Follow Main Street across bridge to Riverside
Turn right on Riverside (light)
Turn left on Broadway (school zone)
Turn left on Market Street (three-way stop)
Turn right on Main
Turn left on Clough Pike (light)
Turn left back into parking lot
Route 2
Right turn from parking lot onto Clough Pike
Right turn onto Main Street (traffic light)
Turn right on Market street (three way stop)
Turn right on Broadway (school zone)
Turn left on Riverside (light)
Turn left onto Main Street
Turn left onto Clough Pike (traffic light)
Turn left back into parking lot
Lebanon
Route 1
Left turn on Mound
Right turn on Walnut
Left turn onto Warren (stop sign, stop bar/crosswalk)
Straight at intersection (four-way stop/stop bar)
Left turn onto Jackson (stop sign, stop bar/crosswalk)
Right turn onto Silver
Left turn onto High Street
Let turn onto Mulberry (stop sign, stop bar/crosswalk)
Right turn onto Mound (stop sign/stop bar)
Left turn onto Main (traffic signal, stop bar/crosswalk)
Left turn onto Dave (traffic signal, stop bar/crosswalk)
Left back into parking lot
Route 2
Right turn from parking lot onto Dave Ave
Right turn onto Main (traffic signal, stop bar/crosswalk)
Right turn onto Mound
Left turn onto Mulberry
Right turn onto East
Right turn onto Silver (stop sign, stop bar/crosswalk)
Left turn onto Jackson
Right turn onto Warren (stop sign/stop bar)
Straight on Warren (four way stop)
Right turn onto Walnut (top sign)
Left onto Mound (stop sign/stop bar)
Right turn back into parking lot
Source: Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles
