Lila Monti July 2025
Why Driver's Education is Failing our Kids

It's your 16th birthday, the day has finally come. Today, after begging your parents for months, they finally brought you to the DMV to take your permit test. You pass with flying colors and are so excited to drive! Your mother takes you to a parking lot for your first time driving. As you grip the steering wheel, for the first time, you feel a wave of fear come over you as you begin to sweat. You'll learn to become quite familiar with that feeling as you continue to learn the high-risk you'll face while in the driver's seat.

“I am fearless”
As teenagers begin their journey on the road, many of them don't make it back home. Teenagers often have a fearless, "it will never happen to me" mindset. And as they begin to get more comfortable on the road, they feel increasingly untouchable. This issue transcends simply the tragedies that teenagers face as a result of their driving, but it affects their families and other people on the road as well.
Driver's Education courses are designed to prepare students, often teenagers, for the encounters they will face while driving and ultimately prevent these tragedies. These classes include 16 sessions, each comprising 1.5 hours of active driving and a 1.5 hour lecture on the rules of the road as well as what to do if you end up in an emergency situation while on the road. Each two part session is 3 hours long. Most teenagers however, only go to these classes because of the incentive that they offer. By taking Driver's Education, students in New York state are able to receive a senior license, only 6 months after their learners permit has been obtained, if they are 17 years old and have passed the road test. Many students are motivated to drive during their senior year of high school and so they suffer through Driver's Ed. classes in order to gain this benefit.


Challenges Facing Teenagers
Teenage drivers today face many challenges on the road. The "don't drink and drive” campaign has run through schools and Driver's Education programs. Although alcohol and other substances, such as marajuana, rushing through the brain of a driver causes roughly 50% of the fatal crashes in young drivers, this is not the only challenge facing teenage drivers today. Often when these crashes take place, the likelihood of them being fatalities significantly increases when teens don't wear their seatbelts (often occurs when drinking takes place), when they are carrying more than one passenger and simply as a result of them lacking long-term experience on the road. Despite the push against drinking and driving, some teenagers will still get in the car under the influence.

Why Driver's Education is Failing our Kids
Although the Driver's Education program aims to benefit young drivers which is done by randomizing cars, mandating attendance and practicing beyond the requirements of the road test, this program is not doing the job it is aiming to do. For example, many students tune out or simply don't pay attention during class and inferior teachers are hired to teach these classes.
As a teenager who has been through an entire Driver's Education program I had mixed feelings about it. There were many positive aspects of the program I was enrolled in. For example, during the hands-on driving portion of my class, most of the time the students in the backseat of the car who weren't driving stayed quiet which was a result of randomizing who the students were in each car. This allowed the driver to focus and listen to the instructor more clearly while driving the car. This isn't the same way in every program but I believe it benefitted my ability to learn. After the first 6 weeks, everyone in my car had taken and passed a practice road test but the class continued past that point. Our instructor taught us things like merging into traffic, anticipating the actions of other drivers, and parking straight in a parking space. Learning to drive on main roads and new skills allowed me to feel more prepared for my drivers test and to drive in general.
Furthermore, as per NY state requirements, each student must be present for all 16 driving sessions and lectures. This simply forces the students to sit through 48 hours of driving education where phone usage is not permitted. For some students, such as myself, I believe this could have its benefits, such as being forced to focus on the content being taught, allowing the teenagers to learn the necessary information they need to be safe. While in this class though, I noticed my fellow classmates sleeping, sneaking phone usage, simply zoning out and leaving to go to the bathroom and never coming back. Part of the problem, I think, is rooted in the teenagers themselves not wanting to be at Driver's Ed. They are being forced either by their parents or the state to go to these classes in order to get their licenses early. The students aren't focused on the content and information they are being given, but simply on getting the piece of paper they need to take their road test. In addition, I believe part of this boredom and lack of attention towards being safe on the road is caused by the teacher in the front of the room. My lecture teacher was a much older, retired woman and she was very cranky. The way we learned was through a power-point slide presentation and being told to take notes on the information on the board. My teacher had no relationship with the students and separated herself from the students by her age and approach to teaching teenagers. I believe because of her teaching methods and attitude, many students in my class walked out knowing only the minimum requirement to pass the final exam or maybe even less. Knowing that many of the kids in my class are walking out of these classes unaware of the risks they are taking behind the wheel scares me as someone who will also be on the road. But I think members of the community, parents of these children, and all those who value the lives of teenage drivers would be horrified to know this sad truth about the Driver’s Education system.

What Can We Do?
Communities, especially those who know the horrors of teenage driving accidents, can take better action to prepare teens to practice safe driving habits. Some of these actions may include better vetting of high quality teachers who teach the Driver's Education classes. Putting younger teachers who are closer in age to the students will allow them to have more connection to and engagement with the students and will likely cause more concentration from teens on the crucial topics being discussed. Advice that teens are told a million times, "don't drink and drive,” "wear your seatbelt,” and “be careful you're a new driver,” simply don't tend to stick and still become the main reasons for fatal motor accidents involving teenagers. A way to change these statistics is by having teachers or parents sitting down with their children and having an honest conversation with them about the realities of these statistics and reestablishing that fear they felt when they touched a steering wheel for the first time; reminding them that they are not invincible and it could happen to them. The solution to this problem will not be a renovated Driver's Education system alone, but it will come from schools, communities, and parents coming together to help their children make safe decisions behind the wheel.