Community Chat

[hckynutjohn]

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@On It wrote:

Driver's Education is a matter of public safety. In our area of Texas, it is no longer offered as a part of the public school curriculum. Students who can afford the cost enroll in private driving schools or can be parent taught. This is not working, and the course needs to be returned to being a part of the public school curriculum.

This week two emergency vehicles were hit by drivers. A fire truck was responding to a call. It was hit by a car driving down a straight section of street. An ambulance had a gun shot victim on board and was hit from the rear. 

Newer drivers are not being trained properly. The driving school gets its money and passes them through. Parents have enough responsibility without having to teach kids to drive.  My son and my husband and I (30 years apart in age) were all three taught by dfferent athletic coaches. They know how to get your attention, hold it, and achieve a level of satisfactory accomplishment. I think I know why it was removed from the public schools, but it was a huge mistake that needs to be corrected.

@On It 

Really? There was no such class as "drivers ed" during my on and off years in high school. However, I have managed to drive, since age 16, for 67 years now. I have driven,  without being involved in 1 vehicle crash(many call accidents), over all those decades.

There is no reason any more of my property taxes should go to schools, especially for free "drivers ed". How about the old fashioned way of teaching driving? I had no dad, and my mother did not drive. I was taught by one of my older sisters.

Where? On the biggest parking lot in our area in those years. And with a 3-speed, stick vacuum shift, old Chevy. I got the "rules of the road" book from our DMV, and studied it. My sister quizzed me before I took my actual drivers test.

The "crashes/wrecks" you mention have nothing, or little to do with "drivers ed classes". They are more due to not having 100% of the drivers focus on the task at hand, which should be on only  DRIVING! 

Distractions galore, with teens it's those things stuck to their face most of their waking hours. Think they still call them a "telephone", but they are looked at, not used to talk verbally to others.

If parents don't have time to teach their kids how to drive? Have them pay for the classes, not leave the bill for all of us property owners to pay.

The mistake? Parents buying cars for their little ones, instead of having them save money the kids earn to buy it themselves. Just like these $1000 things they spend their waking hours using, let them pay their way for the bill to use them. There are phones that are very cheap that can only be used for an emergency, maybe that would be a better choice.

And yes, I prefer my kids that all have 4 legs and lots of fur. That was a choice I made when I was young, and for me it was the right one. 

hckynut  🇺🇸

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[mimomof4]

I don't ever remember Driver's Education being a part of education in Public Schools.  I can remember the course being offered during summer or after school by the school district but it was NEVER part of the curriculum.  Families always had the option of paying for the program elsewhere.  Now I don't know any school districts which offer the program.  I imagine having the program is also a huge insurance cost for the school districts.

While I agree that the cost of Driver's education is ridiculus, parents have a large part in training their young drivers.  In Michigan the driver portion of driver's ed is only 12 hours.  That is NOTHING.  Once the driver gets their permit they are required to get 50 hours of driving which includes at least 10 hours of night driving before the kid can take a driving test and get their actual drivers license.  The driver's license is also graduated so at 16 only 1 other kid can be with your young driver in the car and they can not drive after 10 PM unless for work or a school event.  At 17 the restrictions are reduced a little then at 18 they have full driving privileges.  

As a parent of 1 who is working on getting his license right now I appreciate the parent supervised portion.  I get a Chauffeur for a while but I can also guide my son behind the wheel providing pointers along the way.  No way as school district would be able to spend this much time with each student.  On the other hand I absolutely hate the cost I pay - when my first took drivers ed in 2019 the cost was $350.  This year I had to pay $500 and will need to pay another $125 in testing and a second course before he can get a license.  I have to go through this 2 more times over the next 3 years.  

[mimomof4]

I also want to point out what are the ages of the drivers in the 3 accidents you are referring to?  What type of driver's ed program would stop these accidents?   Were they teen agers or were they Elderly?  I strongly feel that elderly also need to go through a driver's training and driving test to be allowed to drive.  I see so many who should not be driving its scary.

[MG Chris]

I graduated in ‘81 and Drivers Ed was included.  When my kids were 16 we paid for Drivers Ed for our kids and didn't think twice about it. 

[Bri369]

I think it's absolutely the parents' responsibility to make sure their children are properly trained to drive, whether they have to pay for a driving program or not.  

I wouldn't send my teen out on the road unless I felt confident in their abilities.  There's too many distracted drivers and other hazards out there. 

[beckyb1012]

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@MG Chris wrote:

I graduated in ‘81 and Drivers Ed was included.  When my kids were 16 we paid for Drivers Ed for our kids and didn't think twice about it. 

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I graduated in '80 and it was included with ours as well.  But if you did not want to take the class during the school year (which most did not and I did not) then you could pay the fee to take during the summer.  Taught by our high school teachers and and two sessions to choose from.  The two high schools in my town took turns each summer hosting the driver's ed.  

[RollTide2008]

I never took drivers Ed in school and I’ve done just fine in life.

[gertrudecloset]

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@On It wrote:

Driver's Education is a matter of public safety. In our area of Texas, it is no longer offered as a part of the public school curriculum. Students who can afford the cost enroll in private driving schools or can be parent taught. This is not working, and the course needs to be returned to being a part of the public school curriculum.

This week two emergency vehicles were hit by drivers. A fire truck was responding to a call. It was hit by a car driving down a straight section of street. An ambulance had a gun shot victim on board and was hit from the rear. 

Newer drivers are not being trained properly. The driving school gets its money and passes them through. Parents have enough responsibility without having to teach kids to drive.  My son and my husband and I (30 years apart in age) were all three taught by dfferent athletic coaches. They know how to get your attention, hold it, and achieve a level of satisfactory accomplishment. I think I know why it was removed from the public schools, but it was a huge mistake that needs to be corrected.

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I think it is the parent's responsibility to teach their children anything and everything humanly possible.     

[spumoni99]

Yes a good point is after they get their permit they have to be with a licensed driver over a certain age so that is the bulk of the training not the12 hours of class time.

[QVCkitty1]

I took driver's Ed. in school , and of course you had to have practice hours. I remember one day both of my parents were in the car. They started to disagree about my driving and it escalated to the point that I calmly pulled over and said lesson over. From that time one  or the other accompanied me. Teaching driving is stressful, but my drivers Ed teacher was the calmest human.