Is your teenager ready to start driving yet?
Having a teen driver in the house is often a cause of extra anxiety for many parents. Sure, there is worry about the extra cost for a car and insurance and what your teen is going to do with the extra independence that the mobility of driving provides.
But even more concerning for most parents is the realization that car accidents are the leading cause of death for older teens and young adults.
Will taking a driver education class make your teen a safer driver and prepare them for the road?
Maybe, but a new study that will appear in the March issue of Pediatrics, "Variation in Teen Driver Education by State Requirements and Sociodemographics," found that only 78% of teens took a formal driver ed (DE) program. The rates were even worse in states that did not have a formal driver education requirement, especially among hispanics, blacks, males and students with lower academic achievement levels.
And even of the states that require driver ed, few require the latest curriculum, which was updated in 2002 and now includes 45 hours of classroom time and 8 hours behind the wheel.
The authors of the study conclude that "State DE requirements may be an effective strategy to reduce disparities in these groups."
That may be, but you have to wonder if it might be an even better idea to just continue to work at strengthening state Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) Laws, which:
- encourage supervised practice driving in low-risk situations
- keep beginner drivers out of high-risk driving situations
- ban texting and the use of cell phones by beginner drivers
- limit when teens can drive (nighttime driving) and how many passengers they can have
- requiring beginner drivers to keep a clean driving record
- delay giving teen full driving privileges until they are more mature and experienced drivers
Three-stage Graduated Driver Licenses have been shown to decrease a teens risk of crashing by 20 to 50%. On the other hand, driver's ed classes have shown mixed results for effectiveness.
What will your teen have to do to get a license?
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Protecting Teen Drivers
State Graduated Driver Licensing Laws
American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association
Teen Driver Education Program
