DriverSense.com - By Kyle Waller
It's one of the longest running rites of passage. For a new driver, Drivers' Education can be both enlightening and scary. The class is meant to teach young teenagers the ins and outs of the rules of the road and how to conduct oneself while behind the wheel. However, in the United States during 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that 41,059 deaths were caused by auto accidents, a significant number of which were teens aged 16 to 19. In the same year, nearly 400,000 motor vehicle occupants in this age group sustained injuries that required treatment in an emergency department. Overall, in 2007, teenagers accounted for 10 percent of the U.S. population and 12 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths. So while injuries are down 52 per cent in the first half of 2008, there must be something missing in the coveted Drivers' Ed course that isn't teaching people how to avoid accidents. Here are four lessons that Driver Ed has failed to teach.
It's Always Your Fault
Whether you're cruising a rural street or speeding your way down Route 66, one thing is certain: don't crash into anything or anyone. If you do, you only have yourself to blame. Sure, the insurance company needs to know who was at fault to find out who will pay for damages, but if you're a teenager or young adult, getting into an accident is taboo. In Drivers' Ed, instructors teach you the rules of the road and the meaning of certain signs and street lanes. They even go so far as to teach you how to avoid power-sliding your car into tree during the winter season. But a Driver's Ed teacher never speaks on how to deal with an accident. Emotions are high, anger and animosity begin to build, anxiety sets in and the fear of paying for car damages becomes all too real. Immediately after an accident, so many thoughts run through your mind: "Why did I leave home so early?" "Why didn't I leave sooner?" "Why did I take the short cut?" "Why didn't I take a different street?" So in the end whether you hit them or they hit you, you can't help but have the feeling that it's your fault.
Speeding is Speeding
One of the most used reasons as to why someone was speeding is, "I was just keeping up with traffic." Now no matter how true this fact may be, you were speeding and a police officer only needs to pick one car to pull over in the pack of speeding Hondas on the highway. Driver's Ed teaches its students to obey the speed limit at all costs, but it doesn't teach students how to deal with fast drivers in traffic. What happens when everyone around you is going ten kilometres over the speed limit? Should you be the car slowing up traffic or should you speed up to meet the needs of other motorists?
In 2007, speeding tickets were one of the highest cited violations on the road, coming second to seatbelt violations and ahead of DUIs. Drivers' Ed teachers make sure you don't speed during the behind-the-wheel session. When people see the Saturn with the ‘Drivers' Ed' sign on the roof, they know you will be driving slower than usual. But once you get that license, all bets are off and you won't have some guy next to you threatening to hit the brakes. So even though that Mustang you were driving next to was going just as fast as you were, you still were speeding.
The Difference Between Aggressive Driving and Road Rage
Aggressive driving is a traffic offense or combination of offenses such as following too closely, speeding, unsafe lane changes, failing to signal intent to change lanes and other forms of negligent or inconsiderate driving. The trigger for the aggressive driver, unlike the experience of a student driver in Drivers' Ed, is usually traffic congestion combined with being late for work. Unfortunately, these actions put the rest of us at risk. A major contributor to congestion and 10 per cent of rush hour crashes is a tight schedule that is difficult to manage. People overworking or not keeping up with appointments can cause high rates of aggressive driving crashes.
Road rage, on the other hand, is a criminal offense. This occurs when the middle finger is overly used to indicate one's displeasure with other drivers. In some cases these incidents escalate into far more serious situations. Often, the roadway incident that caused the person to become enraged may have been something quite simple and even trivial. Some incidents, by their very nature, are intentional acts, such as when a motorist switches from lane to lane in an effort to go around other vehicles. So while a Drivers' Ed instructor teaches students to respect fellow motorists, he doesn't teach how to deal aggressive drivers or drivers hell-bent on flipping you off.
When Your Car Needs Repairs
Although this may not be a field for the Drivers' Ed teacher, it's such a huge part of being a driver that an instructor should at least touch on the subject. These days most people dread having to take their car in to get repairs. First of all, people cannot bear the thought of being without a car when they have places to go and people to see. While public transportation is becoming a great idea with each passing day, driving is still the most common form of transportation besides walking, according to Driver.com. Maybe Drivers' Ed should try to give general estimates for certain car repair needs. Maybe instructors should hand out information on what to do when certain things happen to the car. Perhaps they could give examples of how to repair small car problems instead of always relying on repair shops. One thing is certain, in these times of economic hardships, people need to know how to do it themselves and the Drivers' Education class needs to educate them on how to do so.
Course Adjustments
Young people ages 15 to 24 represent only 14 per cent of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30 per cent ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28 per cent ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females. With more teens coming out of high school now than ever before, the Drivers' Ed program needs to pick up the pace and get with the times. We no longer need only know about stop signs, we now need to learn about how to keep a car in good condition and how the inexperienced should drive among veterans.
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