Post by slt on Jul 23, 2008 6:51:48 GMT -5
(column for Beacon Valley Voices)
Last weekend my daughter got to put the pedal to the metal driving in a BMW with a race car driver. She found this terrifying but I’m hoping she learned something that will help her be a better driver.
Most traditional driver’s education courses in this country do not teach new drivers all they need to know. Officials in our state government are obviously aware of this because in addition to the classroom and required driving time with instructors, a new driver is required to hold a permit for a minimum of nine months and have a minimum of fifty hours of practice with a adult if they are to get a license before the age of eighteen. Oddly enough, once eighteen a person can get a license with almost no practice at all, they only need to be able to pass a test.
This means that in most cases the parents of 15-17 year-olds are teaching their own children to drive but these parents, though usually experienced drivers, are not trained instructors.
Given the startling and scary statistics about teen driving collisions and fatalities, it’s clear that many teens on the road are not adequately prepared for driving situations they face in the real world. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds, accounting for nearly 1/3 of all deaths in this age category. Drivers age 16 to 20 are nearly three times more likely to be in a collision than those age 21 and older. Traffic fatalities due to drunk drivers occur approximately every 30 minutes while deaths due to teen drivers occur about half that often.
Driver’s Edge was founded in 2002 in Las Vegas by professional race car driver Jeff Payne who continues to run the program today along with a highly trained and talented staff of professional drivers/instructors. They travel around the country offering a 4 ½ hour program to drivers aged 15-21 and their parents for free. The $450 per student cost of this program is covered by generous donors and sponsors.
A test is given to the teens before and after the class to find out what they’ve learned. The average score on the pre-test is 34% while the average on the post-test is 80%. The teens and adults learn a lot over the course of the day. The young drivers are treated with respect and are not talked down to in any way. They are told that they have the chance to prove that teens are smart and responsible.
Here’s what happened on our afternoon at Driver’s Edge. Except for the opening and closing sessions the attendees were divided into four groups. Our group went first to the ABS/panic braking exercise, where the kids got to drive BMW’s and practice braking quickly and braking in an object avoidance situation. Our second station was with the Illinois State Police in which we learned about Illinois laws, about what to do if pulled over, were given the chance to ask questions, and there were informational materials available. The hands-on event in this unit was that each teen got a turn in the “Seatbelt Convincer.” This device simulates a 7 miles per hour crash and the kids were shocked at how strong the impact was. They could tell that even a low speed crash without a seatbelt would be deadly, and that a higher speed crash with a seatbelt would definitely be painful.
Next was a skid control exercise where the kids drove quickly around a curve on a wet parking lot to see what a skid felt like and learn how to react. In the fourth module Mike Moser humorously dealt with the serious topics of the hows and whys of proper seat and mirror adjustment, hand positioning on the steering wheel, seat belt positioning, vehicle fluids, and more.
The dates for the local Driver’s Edge program have passed for this year, but you can go to the website at www.driversedge.org to sign up to be notified of next year’s tour dates and to get more information. They suggest that concerned citizens contact their Governor’s office and local school board members to get this program incorporated into driver’s ed programs and be required for all new drivers.
I believe this program makes a real impact on both the students and parents and is a more than worthwhile way to spend a morning or afternoon. Any student is welcome to come back for another session if they are interested in doing so.
The first sentence in the Driver’s Edge Mission Statement is – “Our Mission is to save lives.” Research has indicated the program is highly effective and doing just that. The more people who can be reached by this, the better.
If you are a young driver or parent of one, please take the time to look into this program.
SherryTatar@ameritech.net
Last weekend my daughter got to put the pedal to the metal driving in a BMW with a race car driver. She found this terrifying but I’m hoping she learned something that will help her be a better driver.
Most traditional driver’s education courses in this country do not teach new drivers all they need to know. Officials in our state government are obviously aware of this because in addition to the classroom and required driving time with instructors, a new driver is required to hold a permit for a minimum of nine months and have a minimum of fifty hours of practice with a adult if they are to get a license before the age of eighteen. Oddly enough, once eighteen a person can get a license with almost no practice at all, they only need to be able to pass a test.
This means that in most cases the parents of 15-17 year-olds are teaching their own children to drive but these parents, though usually experienced drivers, are not trained instructors.
Given the startling and scary statistics about teen driving collisions and fatalities, it’s clear that many teens on the road are not adequately prepared for driving situations they face in the real world. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds, accounting for nearly 1/3 of all deaths in this age category. Drivers age 16 to 20 are nearly three times more likely to be in a collision than those age 21 and older. Traffic fatalities due to drunk drivers occur approximately every 30 minutes while deaths due to teen drivers occur about half that often.
Driver’s Edge was founded in 2002 in Las Vegas by professional race car driver Jeff Payne who continues to run the program today along with a highly trained and talented staff of professional drivers/instructors. They travel around the country offering a 4 ½ hour program to drivers aged 15-21 and their parents for free. The $450 per student cost of this program is covered by generous donors and sponsors.
A test is given to the teens before and after the class to find out what they’ve learned. The average score on the pre-test is 34% while the average on the post-test is 80%. The teens and adults learn a lot over the course of the day. The young drivers are treated with respect and are not talked down to in any way. They are told that they have the chance to prove that teens are smart and responsible.
Here’s what happened on our afternoon at Driver’s Edge. Except for the opening and closing sessions the attendees were divided into four groups. Our group went first to the ABS/panic braking exercise, where the kids got to drive BMW’s and practice braking quickly and braking in an object avoidance situation. Our second station was with the Illinois State Police in which we learned about Illinois laws, about what to do if pulled over, were given the chance to ask questions, and there were informational materials available. The hands-on event in this unit was that each teen got a turn in the “Seatbelt Convincer.” This device simulates a 7 miles per hour crash and the kids were shocked at how strong the impact was. They could tell that even a low speed crash without a seatbelt would be deadly, and that a higher speed crash with a seatbelt would definitely be painful.
Next was a skid control exercise where the kids drove quickly around a curve on a wet parking lot to see what a skid felt like and learn how to react. In the fourth module Mike Moser humorously dealt with the serious topics of the hows and whys of proper seat and mirror adjustment, hand positioning on the steering wheel, seat belt positioning, vehicle fluids, and more.
The dates for the local Driver’s Edge program have passed for this year, but you can go to the website at www.driversedge.org to sign up to be notified of next year’s tour dates and to get more information. They suggest that concerned citizens contact their Governor’s office and local school board members to get this program incorporated into driver’s ed programs and be required for all new drivers.
I believe this program makes a real impact on both the students and parents and is a more than worthwhile way to spend a morning or afternoon. Any student is welcome to come back for another session if they are interested in doing so.
The first sentence in the Driver’s Edge Mission Statement is – “Our Mission is to save lives.” Research has indicated the program is highly effective and doing just that. The more people who can be reached by this, the better.
If you are a young driver or parent of one, please take the time to look into this program.
SherryTatar@ameritech.net