Driver education?

[Mike Arman]

OK guys, time to step up to the plate . . .


We are all in agreement about the woefully poor standard or "driver
education" as it seems to exist in the USA. Note that I have no experience
with these courses in other countries, although I *have* driven in many
places in the world, and even if the level of schooling is much higher (or
at least it costs much more and takes longer), the PRODUCT still stinks -
people generally drive like puke no matter where they are.

I see several problems here.

1) Who are we learning this from? Here, daddy can teach junior how to drive
- this is legal ("Iff'n ya hold yer beer can in yer left hand, that lets ya
shift with the right, and steer with yer knees.") Alternatively, the high
schools have a "driver ed" course - usually taught by "coach" - whose
primary qualification is that he is available and didn't run away fast
enough when the school announced someone was going to teach the driver's ed
course. There are also commercial driving schools (entry level, not truck
driver), but these are the butt of frequent jokes, like "remedial driver's
ed", and are sometimes the butt of TV jokes - incompetent person of
indeterminate but obviously foreign origin driving into things . . .

Problem #1, the "teacher" is unqualified. Having a pulse isn't enough.


2) What do they teach us? "This here is a stop sign. It means yer supposta
stop the car." Fine, we need that, but we ALSO need little things like "If
you have to change a flat (which they NEVER teach), try not to stand
stupidly in the middle of the road while you are figuring out which tire is
flat. Your body makes a tempting target for SUV drivers." The also don't
mention that you cannot fill the entire car with bricks, or as many people
as you can jam in, and you have to check the tire pressures at least once a
decade, and also maybe the oil, and what the red light on the dash means,
and where the smoke comes from.

How to steer and parallel park is NOT enough!

Problem #2, the curriculum is totally outdated - it has not particularly
changed since the 50s, when 50 MPH was an accomplishment, not a nuisance or
a hazard.

3) They never talk about OWNING a car, how to avoid scams by monkey lads,
how to buy insurance, what happens if you drink and drive, why you
shouldn't try to eat, chatter on the phone and shave/put on makeup all at
the same time in rush-hour traffic. At night. In the rain. We won't even
mention the travails of buying or selling a car, or how to deal with
insurance companies, or how to act if you get stopped (when in danger, when
in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout).

Problem #3 is that while it is not necessary to know the theory of the
internal combustion engine, it is necessary to know how to keep it and the
parts connected to it operating safely.

4) Roads have changed since 1950 also. Instead of rustic, ambling two lane
country roads (Mayberry, 5 miles), an AWFUL lot of driving is now done on
interstate and limited access highways, and the procedures are different.
Higher speeds and higher loads make greater demands on the vehicles and the
attention and skill level of the driver. The skill levels needed are
higher, and the results of mistakes can be catastrophic. 

Just getting a license, even if daddy was the teacher, and even if junior
learned in a rusty Vega, is sufficient to legally turn him loose on the
interstate in a brand new Dodge Viper - all he needs is the down payment
and adequate credit. If his taste runs to giant SUVs, he doesn't even need
the down payment.

Problem #4 is that "learning to drive" gets you the license, and that is
all - there's more to it than just "official permission" if you want to
survive. SOME of the reasons for the abysmal safety record of teenagers are
youth, enthusiasm, poor judgement, and lack of exprience, but a BIG part is
poor, inadequate or even non-existent preparation!

5) Nobody ever mentions the psychology of driving, what types of drivers
are you likely to meet, who is dangerous and why, and what to do about them
(avoid, call police, whatever). There are a LOT of lunatics out there, and
even if they can't buy guns (in some places and for some reasons), they
have an equally deadly machine available to them, and COMPLETE permission
to use it in public, any time of the day or night.

Problem #5 is that "anyone can play". Some people simply should not be
driving. Some people should be driving only during the day. Some people
should not drive on the interstate. This will generate an absolute
firestorm of protest since driving a car is an inalienable god-given right
of all red-blooded (fill in the nationality)s, but how do YOU feel about
sharing the highway with repeat drunk drivers, with people whose vision
renders them almost blind at night, with people whose skill levels are
simply inadequate for high-density, high speed traffic?

Perhaps we need might look toward the aviation "model" of continuous
re-training, and graded levels of competency. I've been driving for almost
40 years, and the LAST formal training I had was in high school, driver's
ed, from "coach", who was as close to a motor-level-only functional idiot
as anyone I have ever met before or since. I've learned everything else
since from watching the amusing (and sometimes tragic) antics of other
drivers. I think my experience is typical. Get the license, and you're set
for life - nothing else is EVER needed - and I think that is a mistake.


This proposal will of course raise HOWLS of protest - another government
bureau, more forms and paperwork, they're doing this for our own good, etc.

Here's a way around it, and this way WILL work.

Develop a real-world curriculum, with qualified teachers/instructors, and
award a certificate - not for just showing up, but for actual demonstration
of various skills and knowlege. If you present this certificate to your
insurance company, you get a significant reduction in your insurance
permiums - after all, it you are a better driver, there's less chance that
you'll cost them in claims, so the risk is lower, and the premium can be, too.

The discount lasts for X years, and if you want to renew it, you have to go
back for the referesher course at that time.

This keeps the government out of it, and provides a financial motivation
for the establishment of the schools and for showing up to learn. It might
even save someone's life - maybe yours, or maybe mine.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman

(Hevy duty Nomex on)