According to Highway Statistics 2023, in 2023, 3.7% of total licensed drivers in the US were under 20 years old. At first glance, this may not seem like much, but it means that, on average, almost 1 in 25 drivers on the road have been driving for a maximum of four and a half years. In some states, the percentage is even higher: 7.7 in South Dakota and 8.3% in Iowa (Highway Statistics 2023)! This means that 1 in every 13 and one in every 12 drivers in South Dakota and Iowa, respectively, are teenagers. In order to drive in most states, teenagers must complete 30 hours of classroom instruction (Driver Education Requirements). This means that teens are required to take less than one work-week’s worth of classes about driving and driver safety in order to inform the rest of their driving career. In other words, it’s important to make that time count. Teen driver safety and education is an important issue to the general public because of the volume of teens driving, because of the amount of new information that teen drivers are given, and because of the limits of traditional classroom driver’s education.
As is evidenced by the above statistics, the nation in general and certain states in particular have a not negligible ratio of teens driving when compared to all drivers. Because of this, teen driver safety affects everyone on the road. Whether you are a driver, passenger, or pedestrian, driver education with the goal of driver safety is something that can have a prominent effect in your life. When one considers how often they interact with or even are near a teen driver, they realize how important it is to properly educate teens as they begin driving.
Despite the short time frame of driver’s education, teens are given a huge amount of information, all at one time. This can contribute to a feeling of overwhelm, both as the teen takes the driving course and when they first start to drive. In addition to the information from the actual course, teens often receive tips and advice from family members or friends, and may feel like there are expectations placed on them. Of course, all this information is necessary to learning how to drive a car safely, but it can also become counterproductive if not conveyed in a way that supports the teen in addition to educating them.
Finally, on a personal note, when I finished my classroom driver’s education and took my first behind-the-wheel class, despite everything that I had learned from the former, I had a lot of trouble. I had learned, in writing, how to turn on the car, how to steer, and how to use the pedals, but I didn’t know how to do these all at the same time. Of course, I learned as I practiced more, and I am now able to with no issue. But, at the time, just like when I was receiving the information from the classroom course, I felt overwhelmed.
But can anything be done about this, or is it just something all new drivers have to deal with? I think there can be improvement. All the information I learned was absolutely necessary, and I would not have chosen to have any of it omitted. However, I think it would have been more helpful, at least for myself, to have had more support as I completed the course. For example, since I did my driver’s education online, I think it would have been helpful to have activities suited to a wider variety of learning styles. I would have found helpful more practice tests or an activity simulating actual situations one may encounter while driving. And I am sure that another teen with a different learning style would have preferred a different activity or way to learn.
The driver’s education system is very important, and is a way that teen drivers (and all new drivers) can learn crucial skills and information about beginning to drive. Driver’s education is and should be seen as important to all members of the population, even non-drivers. In order to help new drivers learn all the necessary information, multiple obstacles such as the quantity of information and the impossibility of truly simulating driving itself in a written course must be overcome. A great way to do this would be to work to adapt the driver’s education written course to many different learning styles and to overall provide more support for teens learning how to drive.