FORWARD TWP - An Evans City man hopes his decision to retire after 30 years and take up a new career will prevent other parents from suffering the same fate that befell he and his family six years ago.

Kevin Lenz of Forward Township took a retirement package offered him by AT&T in December 2003. In October he became certified as a driving instructor.

The Kennedy School of Driving, based in Coraopolis, Allegheny County, hired Lenz, and told him if he could land an agreement for driving lesson services with the Seneca Valley School District, the driving school would provide him with a driving-instruction car.

Lenz did that, and is now offering classes in the Seneca Valley and Mars school districts.

Lenz changed career paths at retirement age because of the tragic death of his teenage daughter, Diana, in 1999.

She was thrown from her car through the sunroof after apparently swerving to miss a deer just a mile or two from the family's home off Route 528. Diana's car flipped over after it went up a small embankment.

The coroner said the car was driveable, and Diana may have walked away without a scratch had she been wearing her seat belt.

Now Lenz has taught a number of the after-school driving courses at Seneca and at schools in Allegheny County. He is somewhat surprised about his natural rapport with his teenage students.

"God gave me the talent," said Lenz. "Diana gave me the motivation."

But Lenz pointed out he did not make the switch to a much lower-paying position to get sympathy. Lenz wants to teach teenagers, who naturally think they are invincible, the importance of knowing how to handle every driving situation.

"The number one reason for the course is to teach kids safe driving habits and techniques," said Lenz. "We don't want to teach you what you need to get your license. We want to teach you what you need to survive after you get your drivers license."

Lenz said most parents elect to enroll their 15- and 16-year-olds in the class for the insurance discount, but the real benefit is what the young people learn during the 30 hours of classroom time and six hours behind the wheel.

Lenz said he talks about all three of his children, including Diana, throughout the course. Then on the last day of class, he brings cupcakes and chocolate milk in for his 24 students. He also plays a videotape of parents who have lost a child in a car accident.

Then he shows them a picture of Diana and a 15-minute tape of a speech he gave at Seneca Valley High School soon after Diana's death. That marks the students' first knowledge of the 1999 event that changed the Lenz family's life.

"It's a different atmosphere for a while," said Lenz. "Because I talked about Diana during classes, the students feel like they know someone who was killed in a car accident."

Lenz said when he passed out evaluation forms at the end of his first driving instruction course, he was afraid to look at them because he feared students would complain about bringing Diana's death up during the course.

"One question is 'What item from the course will influence you the most to be a safe driver?'" said Lenz. "The students almost always say the tape or the discussion of Diana."

Lenz said he has approached the Butler School District with the program, and the wheels are in motion to approve a non-curriculum driving program there.

But he said students from other school districts can attend classes at Seneca Valley or Mars.

Lenz said with most major auto insurance carriers, the program pays for itself in 18 months in insurance discounts for the new driver's parents. He said the lessons learned in the class far exceed the knowledge teens gain in the state Department of Transportation licensing system.

"You might get a 100 percent (on the written exam) and pass your driver's test the first time," said Lenz, "then still go out on the road and drive like an idiot."

Alan Cumo, Seneca Valley Intermediate High School principal, said Lenz came along at the right time to offer the course, as the school was running out of available, certified driving instructors for its after-school program.

Since Lenz has begun teaching the course, it has increased in popularity due to student word-of-mouth.

Cumo said he enrolled his children, who attend a different school district, because the driving instructor, not an untrained parent, is the first person to get behind the wheel with his new drivers.

"It kind of takes the heat off parents," said Cumo with a chuckle.

For information on Lenz's driving course, e-mail him at senecadriversed@yahoo.com or marsdriversed@yahoo.com. The Kennedy School of Driving can be reached at 412-771-5550.