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Death at the Wheel; Traditional driver education does little to educate new drivers.(Special Report)
Byline: KENNETH L. ZUBER
Traditional high school driver education does not work. The National Safety Council, in its 2004 Teen Driver: A Family Guide to Teen Driving Safety, even asserts the failure is global. That's not the worst of it though. This information is anything but new. At least as far back as 1962, Edward A. Tenney 's book, The Highway Jungle, told "The Story of the Hoax in Our Schools That Is Putting Death at the Wheel.''
An honest, careful analysis of traditional driver ed can lead to only one conclusion: It doesn't teach driving, let alone good driving. Its faults are fundamental and pervasive. The damage it causes is crippling and permanent. Its philosophy, psychology, content and method are wrong.
Philosophy: The idea behind traditional driver education is to get teenagers driver's licenses and to teach them good citizenship as defined by driver education. Driver ed proponents believe driving is developmental (like walking and talking). Thus little actual coaching is given in the car-it's not about mastering a new skill, but about adopting a defensive posture. It's pretty much up to the student to learn to drive by himself while the teacher figuratively holds his hand. Classroom instruction amounts to preaching and attempting to scare the students into using "mature judgment'' without giving them the knowledge necessary to do so.
Psychology: A teenager's primary job is becoming an adult. They labor tirelessly to stop mindlessly obeying orders. They are being forced by nature itself to achieve control in their own lives. Driving equals control, and teens understand that at the deepest level. Driver ed, instead of using this powerful motivation, does everything it can to kill it. It harangues endlessly about yielding and obeying and never encourages competence in the task of control. Is it any wonder kids are not receptive?
Content: Every generation calls driver ed a Mickey Mouse course. Enough said.
Method: Traditional driver ed employs tricks and gimmicks to ...
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Source: HighBeam Research, Death at the Wheel; Traditional driver education does little to...