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Originally Posted by Terminal Frost
I couldn't agree more. The interesting this is that young drivers are just as bad as the old ones! I'm 20 now, but I'll never forget what an absolute joke the "driving test" was. I can only speak for New Jersey, but I am assuming that it is somewhat similar in other states. The government has completely privatized the whole DRIVING aspect of learning to drive. The result is that high school children do not learn to drive at their public school; all they get is one marking period of Driver's Ed, which includes lectures from your gym teacher and grainy films from the 1970's. The 6 hours of required practice driving are given by private companies. This of course results in one paying $200 to get in an old beat up Ford sedan and driving around with some 21 year old person making $6.50/hr who is more concerned with talking on their cell phone than anything else.
What we need are actual test tracks at every high school and a legitimate driver's education program for all our children. These same facilities could be used on the weekends and after school hours to re-test senior citizens or adults. Putting education (of any kind, in my opinion) in the hands of private companies only results in disaster. Driver education is a perfect example of this. Americans, for the most part, can not drive. We need better education all around.
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And where do you propose we get the money for this?
The public school system has no obligation whatsoever to teach people to drive. Driving is a privilege, not a right, and as such, they should be expected to pay for driver's education themselves.
In this case, people are responsible for taking care of themselves, and the system is responsible for testing them on what they've learned. Better and more extensive tests should be used, and more frequently. Better laws should be passed that dictate how many passengers under the age of 25 can be in a car with a teen, and how often a senior should be retested (every year in my opinion). We should be more willing to suspend licenses for moving violations, and people should have to be retested before having their license returned.
Overall, I think this all leads to a good point--Americans need to be less car-dependent.