Driver education instructors say they’re concerned about a decline in school programs teaching youngsters how to drive at a time when distractions are growing.

The Wichita Eagle reports about 200 members of the American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association met in Wichita last week to discuss trends in driver training.

They say one of the more troubling developments is that many schools are ditching their driver’s education programs or treating them as an after-school or summer add-on instead of making them an important part of the curriculum.

Kansas AAA spokesman Jim Hanni says teenage traffic fatalities have dropped in recent years not because of driver’s education, but because of a new state law that doesn’t allow drivers to receive an unrestricted license until they are 17.