Driver Education: Helping New Drivers Improve Roadway Culture

The roadway is a culture, with drivers, by the strength of their numbers and the power of their vehicles, its dominant members. Drivers’ status brings with it the responsibility to make the roadway safe for everyone. Given the statistical data and human tragedies behind that data, we are in a moment of crisis that demands we take action to make safety the dominant characteristic of our roadway culture.

The most impactful action our society can take to reduce the number of deaths as a result of driving is to increase driver education. Socialization is the process by which new members of a group learn how to become members of an existing group. New drivers need to be socialized into the society of existing drivers. Given the extraordinarily high stakes involved, we have a strong public interest in making new drivers’ transition into roadway culture as smooth as possible, and formal driver education is an essential component of the socialization process that will train new drivers to embrace their role in making the roadway safer for drivers and their passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians. In short, driver education is the key to transmitting a safe, thriving roadway culture from one generation to the next by teaching new drivers how to think and act like the established membership they hope to join.

A defining element of any culture is its language, which explains why language development is a core part of the curriculum in every school. Similarly, driver education programs teach the language of roadway culture. Traffic and vehicular laws, and the signs and other markings that signify them, are the language of the roadway. Learning traffic and vehicular laws, and how to recognize them, is a prerequisite to compliance with those laws, and is thus a foundational element of driver education programs and a first step in reducing the number of deaths related to driving.

In the same way that observance of our legal codes prevents anarchy and provides for the safe and orderly patterns of daily life in our communities, traffic and vehicular codes prevent anarchy on the roadways. In a society as vast, interconnected, and mobile as ours, our transportation system is inevitably complex. As a result, our traffic laws are also complex. The only way to ensure awareness of our traffic laws is through explicit education. Awareness being merely the first step in compliance, driver education aspires to teach its students how to apply the laws in diverse, nuanced situations. Hence, driver education helps students take yet another early step that will promote safety on the roadways.

One challenge facing new drivers is that not all traffic behavior is governed by explicit laws. In any culture, how members think and act is regulated by implicit norms as much as by explicit traffic codes. Driver education teaches new drivers the sometimes subtle, unspoken and nuanced ways of the road. While the specific lessons are many and varied, they are all grounded in the importance of respect for the rights and dignity of other roadway drivers. Defensive drivers make the roadways safer for themselves and their fellow drivers. Driver education helps students internalize the golden rule of the road, which is to drive as you would like others to drive, adding to its impact in reducing traffic fatalities by producing defensive drivers.

Finally, driver education helps students apply their newfound knowledge in practical situations under careful supervision, providing a safe environment for them to develop the skills necessary to safely maneuver a vehicle. This was an especially important step for a driver like me – a bad one! I was a mess of nerves, poor hand eye coordination, and poor situational awareness the first several times I drove for my driver education class. If you can develop carpal tunnel syndrome in your feet, my driving instructor, Mr. Moore, must surely have it from the number of times he had to use his extra brake. Fortunately, he was patient and kind. He made a point of starting me out in relatively easy, safe environments before gradually challenging me with more complicated situations. I will always be grateful for the knowledge and skills I gained from Mr. Moore and my driver education experience.

I am a proud graduate of a rigorous driver education program, but I know I have to work to maintain the high standards I learned in that program. I am fortunate to have survived a minor car accident relatively unharmed. I was not at fault, and certainly did not enjoy the shock of the moment when it happened or the many inconveniences the incident caused in the days and weeks that followed. But given that nobody was seriously injured, I am grateful to have experienced firsthand the consequences of aggressive driving. The driver who caused the accident violated the principles of defensive driving, and, in doing so, put himself and the other vehicles involved at risk. Thankfully, I was alert and driving at a reasonable speed, two defensive tactics that combined to save me from greater injury. I made sure to tell Mr. Moore he was absolutely right about everything he said about defensive driving.

I know there are more steps that I can take to protect myself and others on the road. I almost always put my cell phone out of reach, out of sight, and out of mind in the glove compartment. That should always happen. I sometimes turn the volume too loud when I get excited about a song. That should never happen. I’ve been a passenger with friends who drove distracted and I said nothing. I need to do better by insisting that they do better. For a culture to survive, and thrive, each member has to do his or her part. It is my responsibility to take these steps, because I am a part of the driving culture, and our culture is suffering from too many tragedies that could be avoided. By making regular use of the knowledge and skills I learned in driver education, I am confident that I can do my part. By promoting driver education, we can all ensure that our roadways are a safe, prosperous culture.