In 2022, drivers from the ages of 16-19 resulted in 62% of deaths of all passenger vehicle occupants, according to IIHS. This statistic highlights the extreme damage caused by young drivers. Driver safety courses are required in most states, all but three require it for drivers under 19. Those three that have no requirement are Alaska, Arkansas, and Missouri, as of 2023. The Education Week paper also found that Arkansas is one of three states, the others being Mississippi and Rhode Island, to require zero hours of supervised driving (Education Week). This alludes to drivers in Arkansas being able to acquire a license without any behind-the-wheel experience or training whatsoever. This is likely why the Arkansas Department of Public Safety released a report that states; “In Arkansas, teens die in car crashes at a rate two times that of the United States”. This is obvious, considering the lack of education and training required. The majority of states require 40-60 hours of supervised driving, paired with some form of driver's education. 42 of the 50 states require somewhere from 40 to 80 hours of supervised driving, however, Oregon tops all other states by at least 20 hours, with a 100-hour supervised driving requirement. This number seems almost excessive, and it likely is, intentionally, as it is designed to funnel students into driver's education classes, where on completion, that number drops to 50 hours. Alabama has a traditional 50-hour requirement, but unfortunately, this drops to zero on completion of a 30-hour driver's ed course (Alabama LEA). To circle back around to the start, in 2022, 62% of every single deadly automobile accident had at least one vehicle being driven by a teenager 16-19. So the real question is, how can we reduce these deaths?
Driver education pairs directly with supervised driving to get a teenager a feel of the road. While driving is as unpredictable as things may get, teaching a driver the laws as well as the responsibilities of a safe driver can help reduce accidents through the development of a cautious and safe driver. Actions as simple as using your blinker can drastically improve road safety for yourself and those around you. To highlight this, a quote from an insurance company states “According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), drivers failing to use their turn signals are responsible for over two million accidents each year, which is almost one in five accidents. This is more than double the number of accidents caused by distracted driving.”. Driver's education also teaches young drivers proper braking distances, safe acceleration, proper lane switching technique, and countless other methods to utilize to be a safer driver, even if it’s just a three-minute drive to McDonald's. I was a passenger in a two-car accident, where brake failure led to an unfortunate and avoidable accident. If the driver in the tailing car had attempted to slow at a more proper distance, they would have noticed the faulty brakes and had time to safely pull over to the shoulder. This is a mistake that, while avoidable, could happen to even the best of drivers. Despite this, the driver's education teaching also surpassed just the causation of the accident, as in resolving the crash, driver ed had taught the two parties about proper proceedings in recording the accident and exchanging insurance information. This accident is a slightly altered example of a relatively standard rear-ending, a generally avoidable accident.
Driver's education courses won't turn anyone into the perfect driver. Driving skills inherently come from experience, and due to this, the majority of accidents occur with young drivers. These drivers will learn with time how to be smarter and safer on the road, however, driver education courses set the starting point for these teens and how safe they’ll be from the first moments they set out on their own. As someone who has suffered the consequences of unsafe driving, where I introduced the side of my car with a guardrail, I know firsthand what it feels like to reflect on the crash, and then reflect on driver ed, where they specifically told me a multitude of times how to drive in the rain. These moments are all in hindsight for me, but for the young drivers who get to experience a driver's ed course, it's important to know just how much it can teach you, and just how much money it could save you. $2,416 dollars, to be exact. Safe driving is important, and safety comes with skill. The first step to being better at everything is to learn a little about it, and that's exactly why driver's ed is important. A good driver's ed course will teach teens how to protect themselves, and others, and inherently save lives.