Is it a good idea to allow 14-year-olds to drive, with no driver education??

From a young age my parents have always taught me the importance of making good decisions. One bad decision can cost your future or even your life. As I have gotten older, I have learned it is easier to know the difference between a good and bad decision. CDC states that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. My dad is a Drivers License Examiner for the state of Oklahoma and taught me the importance of Drivers Education and road safety. He has discussed the importance of paying attention when driving and how younger drivers are not able to observe traffic and lights the same as experienced drivers. He does not think the bill Oklahoma passed to allow 14-year-olds to drive without any driver’s education is a good idea.

The bill that Oklahoma passed allows 14-year-olds get licenses with a J restriction. The restriction means their family has an Agriculture Tax Exemption card or the farmer they are working for has the card. The restriction also states, unless accompanied by adult, they are not allowed to drive in cities with population of 100,000 or more, and are not allowed to drive on Interstates or Toll roads. This bill allows 14-year-olds to operate a motor vehicle, by themselves, when driving most direct route from farm to school and when doing farm errands, all without any driver’s education. Oklahoma did pass another law at the same time that requires all teens under 18 to take work zone safe course before they can receive intermediate or regular license. I do not believe this course in any way should replace drivers’ education but that is what Oklahoma has done on these teenage farm licenses. They are only required to complete work zone safe course, and pass the written and drive test. These teens getting their farm licenses are not required to take any drivers education or hold a permit, before being allowed to drive by themselves.

There are many questions surrounding the passing of this bill. Why are teenagers working farm not required to take drivers education? Should these teenagers have a permit for a certain amount of time? Currently other teens who do not fall under this new bill have to hold their permits for 6 months before taking drive test and being allowed to drive by themselves. Do teenagers working on farm need to be able to drive to and from school, instantly with no supervision? I believe these are all valid questions, since Oklahoma is still requiring all other drivers under the age of 16 to have drivers’ education. Oklahoma also requires other teenage drivers to hold an intermediate license for 6 months or until they turn 18.

It looks like Oklahoma law makers have decided that teenagers working on a farm are better drivers than other teenagers. My dad does not believe this is the case. He does drives test in a town of around 50,000. Many times, when teenage drivers from the communities of 2,000 or less come for their drive test they are not prepared to drive in a community with a lot of traffic. The teenage drivers are used to driving where there are few, if any, stop lights and signs. These teenagers have a permit and have been allowed to drive with a 21-year-old license driver and still are not prepared. With this new bill the Oklahoma Drivers License Examiners are required to take them on a drive test after they pass the written test and complete work zone safe training. These Oklahoma examiners are getting in vehicles with a 14-year-old who has had very little driving experience on paved roads and giving them a drive test on highway and city streets. If they do not pass the drive test they can take it once a day for 3 days, if they still do not pass, they have to wait a month before being allowed to take the drive test again. They can keep taking the drive test until they pass. I think Oklahoma should look into this, if the teens testing under the new bill do not pass in three tries, they should have to take drivers education.

With drivers’ education, and my dad holding the position he has; I have not always made the best decisions when driving. I had a minor accident on ice because of my decision making and lack of experience. I would like to see Oklahoma look at this bill and make some changes, I do not believe a 14-year-old is ready to drive by themselves without drivers’ education. I think they should also have someone in the vehicle with them teaching them to make good decisions before allowing them to drive alone. I believe the decision made by Oklahoma, with the implementation of this bill, allowing teens to drive with no driver’s education or permit, we will see our teen deaths from motor vehicle crashes drastically rise over the next few years and will turn out to be a bad decision.