By Alicia Kelso

We’ve all heard the grim statistics produced by teenage drivers: drivers ages 16 to 19 have the highest annual crash and traffic violations of any other age group. The data is enough to make any parent with high schoolers prematurely grey.

But an Upper Arlington resident is doing all he can to provide a little more peace of mind for parents, and a little more confidence for teenage drivers. Mark Bloom opened Bloom School of Driving Dynamix Inc. in 2005. In 2006, he and eight of his staff members instructed their first class of 15 recently-licensed drivers in classes held at Ricart Automotive in Groveport, which provides the classroom and 7 acres of safe and controlled blacktop.

The concept of Bloom School is simple: it’s “next level” training for those who went through driver’s education. It isn’t provided in lieu of licensing, and it isn’t required. However, some insurance companies give discounts to those with a certificate of completion from the program.

The one-day, six-hour class includes two hours in the classroom and four hours in a safe environment learning drills for handling concerning situations. Drivers learn how to control a spinning vehicle, how to brake on icy or wet surfaces, how to immediately switch lanes if necessary and how to encounter rapid direction changes. They also learn the basic physics of operating a vehicle and defensive driving techniques.

Bloom is the perfect candidate to teach these methods. He spent 10 years racing cars in the Pro Sports 2000 Series, which falls under the Sports Car Club of America’s governing body. Bloom proudly displays a framed picture of his race car in his office and talks fondly of his days as a professional driver.

He got into the sport by emulating his father, who was also a racer. His “a-ha moment” came when, at age 13, he went to one of his dad’s races for the first time.

“I loved everything about it: the speed, the noise, the atmosphere. I loved how you had to work toward something, and how all of the behind-the-scenes work was so involved,” Bloom says. “You can’t just go to a park and have a pick-up game of racing. It was so unique to anything any of my friends were doing, and I loved it.”

Bloom began racing immediately following high school. He put in a lot of time and money and raced as much as he could.

“I had a fire in my belly and I was very passionate about it,” Bloom says.

He raced mostly throughout the Midwest and earned local sponsors to maintain his career for a decade. But he eventually realized it was difficult to keep up financially in that line of work. He was also ready to raise a family (his daughter Hannah is now 17, and son Mitchell is now 14) and decided it was time to find steadier work.

“Racing rewards very few people – there are one or two drivers per team and that’s it; so few people get a shot. And how you progressed is indicative of how much money you had,” Bloom says. “No matter how much time and money you spend on your car, there is always someone spending more time and money on theirs. It was tough, but I learned a lot and use all of that knowledge now.”

He began working for a telecommunications company and worked at performance driving schools on the side, including Track Time Racing Schools at the Michigan International Speedway. His part-time job involved observing and teaching high-speed techniques to people who owned street cars and rented the track to exercise their speed in a safe, legal area.

Bloom was having fun and keeping his technical skills sharp. Then, in 1996, he ran into a former competitor of his who asked Bloom to join him as an instructor at The Mid Ohio Driving School in Lexington. He agreed and for the next 10 years taught numerous driving programs offered by the school.

“I had another ‘a-ha’ moment when I began teaching the teen driving program. The teacher/coach thing really got to me. When you can teach someone something that is second nature to you and you actually see them get it, that is very rewarding,” Bloom says.

So he pursued his current business, another dream influenced by his father.

“My dad always taught me to find a niche and fill it and be good at it. He wanted me to be involved in a business that I could do and I could do really well. I knew this was it,” Bloom says.

The Bloom School is still somewhat new (its fourth season of classes begins in March) but is one of only six established teen-specific driver training programs in the country. The school filled 70 dates in the 2008 season. All of the training happens at Ricart Automotive in Groveport, which provides the classroom and 7 acres of safe and controlled blacktop.

“I’ve established some pretty special partnerships with this model. Ricart never once said ‘What can you do for us?’ It was always about just wanting to make kids safer and better drivers,” Bloom says. “And I think that’s the same reason why parents get this idea. They know the benefit of this.”

The only requirement to enroll in the program is a current learner’s permit. That’s not to say he hasn’t had older students. A 72-year-old took the class last season, per the suggestion of AAA, which recently named Bloom School an “Approved Driving School Network Program.”

Bloom keeps the class number at 15 for a better instructor/student ratio, and he entrusts his staff of former race car drivers and retired Ohio State Highway Patrolmen to go through the curriculum, which Bloom wrote himself.

In the field, students participate in a slalom exercise, wet braking/steering exercise, emergency lane change exercise and spin avoidance exercise. The latter is possible thanks to a special car designed by Bloom and built by an engineer friend: it comes with a platform and outrigger system simulating limited traction found in rainy, snowy or icy conditions.

“Our goal is to take away that first wide-eyed moment and give students the exposure to these situations in a safe, controlled environment so in the real world they can process what is happening instead of reacting to what is happening,” Bloom says. “I just want to show kids how quickly bad things can happen and teach them how to be in control; to make them safer and better drivers.”

Alicia Kelso is editor of Upper Arlington Magazine.

Class at the Bloom School costs $250 and includes a certificate of completion for insurance discount purposes and lunch provided by Rotolo’s Italian Pizzeria. A driving permit is required. For more information about the Bloom School of Driving Dynamix Inc., including instructor credentials and drills involved, visit www.bloomdrivingdynamix.com.