According to the AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety, teenagers account for the highest number of automobile crashes in the United States. The ages
16-25 age group has been proclaimed the risk pool the by insurance agencies around the country, and as a result their rates are significantly higher than experienced drivers. Teens also lead the way in mobile device crashes as well as alcohol fatalities. So how do we address this major societal problem? Stricter laws and increased fines have helped a little bit, but have not significantly made a difference in the lowering of the teen accident rate. Driver Education has also helped educate young drivers. but yet again has made only a small impact on this major problem.
Parents Need to be Partners in Driver Education!
Matter of fact, Driver Education is usually the first program to be dropped when school districts have to make adjustments to their budgets. Unfortunately, in my estimation these programs are invaluable tools in getting students ready to drive on our nation’s highways. Driving a 2000 pound vehicle at high speeds is a skill that must be taught properly. Don’t get me wrong Science and Math are very important subjects and must be taught at high levels in order to maintain pace with the rest of our changing world. It’s just that driving a motor vehicle inappropriately is more likely to get you killed as opposed to solving a math or science problem incorrectly. Well taught, highly structured driver education courses need to re-emerge into our country’s school districts. Unfortunately I do not foresee this happening for some time. The course is just not deemed that important, and has not shown to significantly lower crashes among teen drivers.
So where do we go from here? Teens need direction and some parents are reluctant to pay the high cost of educating their young drivers. Private driving schools and paid courses are a great way to get a teen started, but unfortunately they do not solve the problem. There are two major reasons young drivers lead the pack in the driver fatality category. Those reasons are immaturity and experience. There is a simple answer to start helping to solve this problem, and that is parents must partner with their child in the entire driver education process. This means reinforcing the skills that they are taught from professionals as well as role modeling proper driving behavior to their teens every time they get behind the wheel. Experience comes from constant practice in all types of driving situations, and it is important for the parent to take the lead in the providing of this practice. This means getting in the car with the teen and giving them those valuable behind the wheel hours or perhaps finding someone who will. It also means that the parent should seek out the necessary resources to re-insure they are teaching traffic and safety laws as well as modern driving skills and techniques.
Even if by some miracle Driver Education reappears in our nation’s schools it is still the job of the parent to partner with their child as well as with the driving professionals. If you stumbled onto this website then you have come to the right place. My intention is to provide as much information possible to both the parent and teen in order to help you get out on the roads with all the skills necessary to encounter every driving situation. Stop by often to check out our growing list of free resources.
The highway transportation system will run more smoothly and crashes will decrease when parents and teens work together to be properly educated in Highway and Traffic Safety Education. Parents need to be partners in driver education. Good luck and I look forward to serving you.
Thank you for visiting my site! As a special gift I would like to offer both parents and students a coupon code for $10.00 off the online version of the Point and Insurance Reduction Program as well as a FREE GUIDE “Keys to Passing the Road Test.” Just add your email to the sidebar sign- up form.
Hank Wysocki