Drivers Education Midterm

Ever since the law was change that teenagers in the United States could get their drivers license at the age of sixteen, controversy has followed. Some argue that this age is too young for teenagers to be in the car because they’re too immature to operate a motor vehicle and others argue to say that it’s okay. However, it seems that no one seems to argue on whether or not these young adults must take drivers education or not in order to drive. Some states have made it a law, that in order for one to get their license at the age of sixteen, they must take drivers education or else they must wait until they’re eighteen. Other states, however, don’t find the need to teach their young adults the rules of the road and let them drive as soon as they are at the age of sixteen. Driver’s education helps teach these young adults the laws of the road and, as the program’s name states, educates the driver on how to drive on the road. Ever since the 1930’s, schools and independent providers have offered students this education on driving. The program is getting more and more popular, and as of 2010, nearly 20,000 schools in the United States provided drivers education in their curriculum. (Stack, 2010) If teenagers in this generation want to get their license before they turn eighteen, they must take drivers education. When a student is signed up to take drivers education, they are signed up to sit through a series of requirements. First, the student is going to sit through classroom instruction of the laws of the road and other various useful and knowledgeable techniques about driving. The amount of hours varies per state, but the average amount of time spent in the classroom is about twenty-four total hours. (Driver’s education in, 2011) This time in the classroom is used so that an instructor can teach a group of students about important laws to follow on the road and what a majority of the street signs are that you’ll see on the road. This classroom time is also used to talk about topics like: cell phone use, hazard detection, inexperience, nighttime driving. As well as talking about laws that are set in place on the road, and the penalties you will serve if you break these laws, the instructor will teach the students about drunk driving. This is huge for them, and is a big part in trying to prevent any sort of drinking and driving. Instructors show videos that have been given out by the government in order to show these young adults what can happen if you are behind the wheel while under the influence. The classroom is also a place where the instructors can teach drivers the ins and outs of defensive driving. This knowledge is useful when the driver is on the high way, for example, and they have to make decisions that could affect everyone in the car. By learning these techniques of where to be, and how to manage oneself in that particular situation, may help that driver down the road in their driving adventures. The time spent in this classroom is important for teenagers in order to achieve their license, and cant be complete unless they pass the twenty-four hour portion of class and the tests involved. Assuming the student has completed the twenty-four hours of classroom learning, and have attained their driving permit, they then must complete a set number of hours of in-car learning. The amount of hours varies per state, but averages about eight hours. (Driver’s education in, 2011) This time is used to teach the student how to drive, essentially. The instructor will teach them the ins and outs of the car they are in, and how to drive properly and safely. In-car is used to make the comprehensive driver calm in the car when they drive and allows them to be comfortable on the road. Since some students have trouble learning with their parents because of family issues, in-car provides a calm environment in which the student can get some quality one on one time with an instructor. Young drivers are just that, young, and they don’t always get along with they’re parents. They fight with them in the car, and think that they’re doing right. It’s the age-old story where the teenager knows better than the parent, and then a fight breaks out. The learning environment then becomes full of tension and may distract the teenager from being able to learn anything. If this happens continuous, not only is the teenager not learning, but they may not want to drive at all with their parents anymore. If this happens, then the teenager for sure is not learning anything about how to drive on the road. Instead of dealing with his or her own parents, the teenager can simply get into the car with the instructor who will provide a calm learning environment. The in-car instructor is human, and is doing their job. They want to have as much fun as possible. They aren’t going to spend their time fighting with the driver, but instead provide them with a fun area in which to drive. The majority of in-car drivers wants to enjoy their time there, and will use the ability to teach the student a new area to drive around to their advantage. This isn’t to be taken out of character however. In-car isn’t a time to be distracted from the learning you’re supposed to receive, but rather a time where you’re able to listen to the radio and possibly grab a cheeseburger/soda from a near McDonalds. Another role of the in-car driver is to teach the students how to drive, which was sort of mentioned earlier in this paper. A part of learning how to drive, is to fix the errors that the driver may have picked up in the time that they have been driving away from in-car. If a young driver has a permit the only person they are able to drive with is someone over the age of twenty-one, which is usually the teenager’s parent. Since majority of the time the parent is the one teaching their child how to drive, the parent may be teaching the student bad habits that they themselves use on the road. The time spent in in-car is used to fix those bad habits, and provide them with better habits to use in the car. Parents aren’t always the best people to teach a new driver how to drive. They teach them how to drive the way they do, and the way their parents taught them how to drive. For all they know, how they drive is perfectly ok and nothing is wrong with it. When, generally, these habits they use are terribly wrong and sometimes illegal. Also a teenager might see their parent doing something in the car when they drive, and since “mom and dad do it, then it must be okay for me to do it” crosses through their mind. This, majority of the time, is completely false. Another thing the instructor may do that the parent doesn’t provide, is they’ll teach the driver how to get out of dangerous circumstances. They teach the driver how to look further down the road, and prepare for what is coming ahead and how to adjust to what they see. These abilities may help the driver in the future by keeping them out of the harm of having to wreck a car. The sole purpose of in-car is to teach the young driver how to be safe on the road, and how to properly drive in a comfortable arrangement. To some, they may argue that drivers education isn’t necessary to get your license. A major reason as to why this comes up, is because it can cost up to $300-$400 to send a teenager to a class to teach them something their own parents could teach them. This statement is true, however, what people don’t know is that this $300 class actually saves money. Not only does the teenager not learn a valuable amount of information to help them in the art of driving, but parents will also save that $300 amount in car insurance. What people don’t understand is that drivers education saves money the drivers insurance. Yes it’s a whole lot of money up front, but for what the child receives in knowledge and technique, its worth it. Especially in the long run when the family is saving money annually. It’s a simple question: Pay $300 and teach a teenager how to drive, or don’t spend money and pay that $300 every month on car insurance that you don’t necessarily have to? Some may also say that the in-car instructor themselves may not be smart at driving, or cant teach their child how to drive. Though the personality of each instructor is different, the main goal of their job is to teach your child how to drive. In order for your child to pass in-car, they must be able to pass a requirement sheet with an overall score. It’s the instructors goal for the driver to be able to reach this score requirement and “graduate” from their program. They don’t sit in a metal death trap with brand new drivers just for the fun of it. Its their job, and majority take it seriously. Why would one think they joke around with the driver and make sure they cant drive, when they have to sit in the car with them? Not to mention, before anyone becomes an in-car instructor they must receive a certificate stating that they’ve passed a series of tests. These tests are both written tests about rules and regulations, as well as test on how well they themselves drive. (Johnson, 2012) The process they go through is quite rigorous, and not just anyone can get into a car and properly teach the teenager how to drive. Driver’s education is a way for young adults to receive information on how to drive and the rules that go along with it. It provides them the ability to acquire a comfort zone inside of the car that will help them out when they have to drive on a regular basis. Driver’s education is a safety measure set forth by governments to ensure that the youth of their country stays safe on the road, and is a prevention measure towards wrecks. Without it, it would take longer for the youth drivers to understand how to drive safely on the road and cause harm to everyone else who is on the road at that time.

References
Driver 's education in ohio. (2011, December). Retrieved from http://www.dmv.org/oh-ohio/drivers-ed.php
Johnson, T. (2012, January). Ensuring quality driver instruction to ohio teens. Retrieved from http://www.drivertraining.ohio.gov/instructors.htm
Stack, H. J. (2010, June). History of driver 's education in the united states. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtS earch_SearchValue_0=ED123348&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED1233 48

References: Driver 's education in ohio. (2011, December). Retrieved from http://www.dmv.org/oh-ohio/drivers-ed.php Johnson, T. (2012, January). Ensuring quality driver instruction to ohio teens. Retrieved from http://www.drivertraining.ohio.gov/instructors.htm Stack, H. J. (2010, June). History of driver 's education in the united states. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtS earch_SearchValue_0=ED123348&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED1233 48