Get Your Driver’s Ed Degree!

You wouldn’t drive drunk. So why would you drive distracted? Better yet, why would you want to drive uneducated?

At first glance, driving looks like it’s something very easy to do. Everyone does it– driving is a very special part of American culture. Here, teenagers as young as fourteen years old can be seen out on the roads, on their way to school, work, home, or seeing a friend or doing activities. When I talk to people overseas in different countries, they wonder how we could believe it’s safe for teenagers to drive here in the United States! However, why isn’t driver’s education something more popular and talked about when it comes to American culture and lifestyle?

In my experience, it’s probably because it’s not viewed as something everyone needs, let alone something everyone can afford. For me, it was $300 for the cheapest option, and when it comes to being low-income, it seems more like a barrier against getting to work and school. I have friends who are poor, meaning they never ended up taking the classes. Under Iowa’s graduated license program, teens needed to sit through driver’s education, but my friends who were above eighteen already could walk right into a DMV, say they want to take a driver’s test, pass it, then smile for the photo on the card.

But is that really enough?

While my friend who couldn’t afford driver’s education courses is actually one of the safest drivers I’ve ever met, and while we probably all know someone who passed driver’s ed but still can’t figure out how to stay safe on the road, I can’t say it’s the same for everyone. For example, in the state of Oklahoma, where I helped my sister move into college, I noticed that people there drive much more differently and erratically than people in Iowa. I always wondered why, but learned that it’s due to a lack of requirement on driver’s education for them! Even though adults don’t need it in Iowa, at least teens had to be educated drivers if they wanted to legally drive!

In fact, the next interesting facts are something I learned about in a driver’s education course!

I had to watch a video that concerned the graduated licensing system that’s been implemented in many states to allow teenage drivers to hit the road. While there are differences between states, many states usually start around fourteen with a learner’s permit, then they graduate to a teenager’s license, often called a “kiddie license” or “teen license” by people I know. These licenses usually require teens to take the special classes and pass both a written test and a driving test with one of their driver’s education courses. They then should receive some kind of form or certificate to take with them to their local DMV to get their license processed and ready to use. Their parents may also have to sign off as well to allow their teen onto the road.

When these systems are implemented and regulated the right way, teenagers are more likely to be careful with how they drive, know how to look out for the right hazards, and keep their eyes and minds on the road. They’re also more likely to know what to do in certain situations– they can stay calm if a tire pops or they get pulled over. Teens will also be able to learn more about driving than they could with a parent, sibling, or friend that’s teaching them to drive. While it’s good to learn from someone who knows how to drive, many people like to “bend the rules” and show their teenage loved ones it’s okay to do the same when it may not be. In fact, bending the rules while they’re still learning could lead them to bend even more rules later on as they get used to driving and become confident. Finally, depending on how seriously they take their time in driver’s education courses, the people who take them might also be more likely to avoid things like texting, drinking, or using drugs while they’re driving!

My experiences with driver’s ed classes may not be the most memorable or freeing as driving itself, but they did help me know how to be a better driver and even learn how to please a driving test proctor! Without it, I wouldn’t know as much about road hazards of many kinds, including the weather, other people on the road, tractor-trailer trucks and how to respect them, and many more. With my driver’s education, I feel more confident I can keep myself and others on the road safe and get where I need to go.