Drivers ed in America needs an overhaul.

"cuts_off_prius" (cutsoffprius) 01/23/2015 at 18:39 • Filed to: None

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I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way to save lives on the road - better driver education.

Here's an excerpt from one of my favorite books:

"The need to improve and update driver education for all motorists had been met with talk and little else by the driving public, politicians and, unfortunately, the highway safety community itself. The expense, lack of political will, and the view by many auto safety advocates that driver's training programs are of dubious value have helped to create stagnation in the field of improved education. Safety 'experts' will point to the lack of statistical evidence that better training produces a safer driver. Within the confines of the Slower-is-Always-Safer philosophy, such an assessment couldn't be more true—viewing a 'good' driver as anyone who drives 55 mph or less. The present safety movement in America does understand one aspect of improved driver education that it does not want to acknowledge. A well-trained driver is a *fast* driver on the open road, and this does not fit in well with a philosophy that is constantly trying to slow people down. However, in the world of Fast and Safe, improved drivers education is not a hindrance to safety but a virtue and a necessity."

-from American Autobahn: The Road To An Interstate Freeway With No Speed Limit

Here's what Alex Roy, professional road rally driver has to say about the subject (for those that didn't see it):

Part 2 of the series on the same subject:

Part 3:

Which is better - the cheaper current system in which most of the learning actually happens AFTER drivers ed - that is on the road through experience. Or an overhauled drivers ed with required skid control, emergency maneuvering, snow driving for colder states, etc. ?

I say we combine this with an overhauled public trans so we weed out the people uninterested in driving and/or the incompetent.

E. Julius > cuts_off_prius 01/23/2015 at 18:48

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Agreed, driver's Ed is pretty much a joke. I took it in 2008, and our textbook was written in the 80s. Not printed in the 80s—this wasn't some run down show with old equipment lying around—but a brand new book filled with pictures of people in giant glasses, women in shoulder pads, and advice on maintaining your carburetor. I find it really hard to believe that there hasn't been some advancement in pedagogy in the last few decades, not to mention new topics such as texting and driving, and what advanced safety systems can (and more importantly, can't) do . Ridiculous.

Steve in Manhattan > cuts_off_prius 01/23/2015 at 18:54

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My driving test in MD was on a course - 3 point turn, parallel park. I passed first try. In a giant '69 Impala.

Somewhere there is a Top Gear with a description of what it takes to get a drivers license in Finland. Skidpad, snow, car control - they do it all. But we don't have something similar because freedom!

Axial > E. Julius 01/23/2015 at 18:54

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Star for using the word "pedagogy."

PS9 > cuts_off_prius 01/23/2015 at 18:56

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Not gonna happen.

Jonathan Harper > cuts_off_prius 01/23/2015 at 18:57

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AMEN!

Thinking back on my high school driver's ed class, it's no wonder there are so many shit drivers on our roads.

Funktheduck > cuts_off_prius 01/23/2015 at 19:19

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I never took driver's ed.

GhostZ > cuts_off_prius 01/23/2015 at 19:21

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We're talking raising taxes nationwide by the billions, and trying to get the states to go along with it, all to reduce traffic-related death and collisions only marginally.

Keep in mind that a vast majority of the crashes that happen are not young recently educated drivers, but are confident, impaired adults or elderly.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > cuts_off_prius 01/23/2015 at 19:26

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You answered your own question in the first paragraph.

The current system is complex and expensive. Our Government does not understand easy or cheap.

How are they supposed to put pork into non-related bills if the money being proposed is small amounts.

/not sarcasm, sadly/

yamahog > Funktheduck 01/23/2015 at 19:28

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Same. I'd been driving on my dad's land since I was about 10, but I went to high school in Long Island and had no desire to be trapped in a moving car with those idiots. So many horror stories from my cousins, including:

someone who didn't know what brake lights were, and nearly rear-ended a stopped car

someone who freaked the fuck out going over a bridge, and slammed on the brakes, and got out of the car

On top of the typical beginner mistakes. Not to mention the ex I had who took driver's ed in Long Island and insisted I was out of my mind and the left lane was NOT for passing. He had never heard of the concept...

Funktheduck > yamahog 01/23/2015 at 19:45

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I didn't start driving cars/trucks until I was 14 but I drove off road vehicles since I could reach the pedals/controls. I sat in my dad's lap and drove our boat. He controlled the throttle.

I had more driving experience by the time I was 16 than most of my friends did by the time they hit 18.

People who don't understand that the left lane is for faster traffic should be banned from driving.

shop-teacher > cuts_off_prius 01/23/2015 at 23:48

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I agree 100% that the system needs to be revamped and majorly improved. However, this would be neither easy, nor cheap. It would be both complex and rather expensive, but I believe it would be a worthwhile endeavor and expense.

Calling what we have a system, is kind of a joke. It's a total hodge-podge of crap. Very little is learned, and even less is tested.