Although home-schoolers have won their freedom to teach their children at home in every state, one issue continues to be a problem. It’s whether parents should be allowed to teach their children how to drive.

Despite the freedom to teach every other subject at home, parents in most states are forbidden to teach classroom driver’s education. (Maryland does not allow parents to teach the classroom portion of driver’s education, but Virginia does. The District has no classroom requirement.)

HSLDA strongly supports the position that since parents are able to teach all the other subjects and parents are responsible for the well-being and safety of their children, they also should have the right to teach their own children the classroom part of driver’s education.

It was not always this way. In the 1940s and ’50s, parents were the primary driver’s education teachers for their children. In the 1960s and ’70s, the focus shifted to school-taught driver’s education programs. This shift was made in the hopes of assisting teenagers with their driving skills and tests. However, this has not improved teenage driving safety.

More 16-year-old drivers are dying in vehicle crashes than ever before, even though the number of traffic deaths has declined among the driving population in general. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2006, 6,964 people were killed in crashes involving drivers age 16 to 20, and 3,374 drivers age 16 to 20 were killed in 2005.

The crash risk is particularly high during the first year a teenager is eligible for a driver’s license. The problem is worse in the United States than in many other countries because we allow teenagers to get driver’s licenses at an earlier age, and licenses are inexpensive and easy to obtain.

If there’s a better method of training teens to drive, shouldn’t parents be allowed to make that choice?

In October 2000, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs conducted a research project on the effectiveness of parent-taught driver’s training. In comparing teens who had completed a National Driver Training Institute parent-taught driver’s education program with National Insurance Co. statistics for teen drivers, the study found the parent-taught teens had fewer speeding tickets, fewer accidents, fewer tickets for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and fewer traffic fatalities.

The insurance industry and many state legislatures have been moving toward a system of graduated driver’s licenses, in which a student has certain restrictions imposed — they must drive with an adult in the car, for example — until they reach a certain age. The requirement for driver’s education has been maintained in many states as part of this program. Also, due to financial challenges, many public schools are dropping their driver’s education programs. This forces parents to pay for commercial driving schools when they could just do the job themselves.

If you live in a state that doesn’t provide for parent-taught driver’s education, the only way to change the law is through the legislature. At a time when our country needs to see more parent-child interaction, parent-taught education is the right step to encourage more quality time for parents with their teens.

We have no doubt the effectiveness of parent-taught driver’s education will become evident because of the same principles that make home-schooling successful academically. The tutorial method with the low student-teacher ratio and individualized instruction produces outstanding results.

The bottom line is that no one cares more about the safety of their children than the parent as no one has more to lose than the parent when a child is ill-prepared to receive a driver’s license.

If you would like to see your state adopt parent-taught driver’s education as an option, contact HSLDA at 540/338-5600 or www.hslda.org.

• Michael Smith is the president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/17/home-schooling-choice-sought-driver-training/

The primary objective of this telephone survey is to determine whether graduated driver training programs can save the lives of teenage drivers. The secondary objectives address information that will recognize trends, student demographics and collection of qualitative information identifying the benefits of graduated licensing program. View Full Report

When five high school cheerleaders in western New York died in an automobile accident after going out to celebrate their graduation, a community was crushed.

Now, authorities say it is possible that the fiery, head-on collision with a tractor trailer may have been caused by a distracted driver sending text messages.

“Cell phones are a distraction and could be a contributing factor in this accident,” said Ontario County Sheriff Phillip Povero.

Cell phone records show a text message was sent from the phone belonging to the driver, Bailey Goodman, at 10:05:52. A reply was sent to her phone at 10:06:29. Thirty-eight seconds later, someone called 911 to report the accident that killed Bailey and her friends.

“Cell phone records indicate the phone was in use,” Povero said. “We’ll never be able to clearly state that she was the one doing the text messages.”

Text messaging may be one of the most dangerous distractions for any driver.

“Clearly, the problem with texting is the same portion of your mind that you need to be using when you’re focusing on the road is the same portion that you’re using when you’re texting,” said Michael Pina of AAA.

For young, inexperienced drivers, texting could be even more dangerous. And yet, 46 percent of teens in a new AAA/Seventeen magazine survey admitted to texting while driving. Fifty-one percent said they talk on cell phones while driving, another distraction.

“I do and it’s very dangerous,” one woman said. “I have these little flashes in my mind of thinking about getting into an accident while I’m doing it.”

Four states have made it illegal to drive and talk on a cell phone without a hands-free device. But so far, only Washington state has enacted a law banning text messaging while driving.

Dr. Charles E. McDaniel

285 Wildwood Lane Boone, North Carolina 28607 828-264-3190

Historically driver education programs have been developed around 30 hours of classroom and 6 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction taught by school-based or commercial driver education teachers. When I, and some of you, learned to drive, these programs were not available so we were taught by our parents, older adults, and / or other family members. Today there are many communities where no driver education program is offered by the local school system or a commercial driving school. Unfortunately, in some of the communities where a formal driving education program is offered, the driver education program and the driving instructors are both inadequate and poorly trained as a result of lax or reduced standards adopted by the state. Fortunately, there are some school-based and/or commercial driving schools that offer quality instruction taught by competent driver education instructors.

In the last several years parent-taught driver education has emerged to fill the void where no formal driver education program was available. Some of these parent-taught programs fall into the same “poor” category as described above. I have examined some of the parent-taught driver education programs. One of the best of these programs is the National Driver Training Institute “Help For the Teenager Who Wants to Drive” program.

The NDTI Program meets the content standards established by ADTSEA and various State Agencies. The NDTI Program far exceeds the number of hours spent in the traditional 30 hours of classroom and 6 hours of behind-the-wheel driving instruction program. The NDTI Program provides a variety of current driver education videos for the students to watch. The NDTI Program also provides a classroom and a behind-the-wheel evaluation program that is more detailed than evaluations normally performed by driver education teachers in school based or commercial driving school programs. The turn around time on test and/or on-road evaluations is consistently much less with a greater percent of the test/evaluations reaching the parents. The NDTI Program has also reached back in time to the 1960’s and 1970’s for a resurrection of the “correlated and intergraded” organization of the driver education classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction.

In the 1960’s the Brevard County, Florida four-phase driver education program was developed around the “correlated and intergraded” format where students received short periods of classroom instruction (3-5 days) followed by simulation, range, and/or behind-the-wheel instruction for several days (5-10 days) etc., until each student had received 30 hours of classroom and 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training or its equivalent.

During this period of time there were several major research studies that utilized the “correlated and intergraded” approach to program organization:

The National Driver Education Study (DeKalb County, Ga) – Dr. Jack Weaver

Driving Range Study (Brevard County, Florida School ) – Dr. Richard Bishop

Four Phase Driver Education Study (Brevard County, Florida schools) – Dr. Tom Seals

Renton, Washington Model Driver Education Study (Renton, Washington) – Dr. Charles E. McDaniel

San Diego, Madison High School Model Drivers Education Study (San Diego, California) – Dr. Tom Seals and Dr. Charles E. McDaniel.

The NDTI “Help For the Teenager Who Wants to Drive” utilizes the “correlated and intergraded” organizational approach. Their approach spreads the driving over a longer period of time and is able to relate the classroom information more closely to the behind-the-wheel instruction. Also the times spent in behind-the-wheel instruction is a documented minimum 50 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction. Current GDL programs, which provide for supervision driving instruction after successful completion of a high school based or a commercial driver education program, generally have very little or no required structure for the GDL experience. The NDTI Program provides both documented times and structure. Until steps are taken to build in required structure and documented time standards, serious consideration should be given to allowing quality parent taught driver education programs like the NDTI to be approved.

Sincerely,

Dr. Charles McDaniel


Corey Reynolds
October 27, 2006

Many headaches and potentially dangerous situations can be cured with adequate preparation. Every car should have a kit with certain important winter driving items like a blanket, water, jumper cables and a first-aid kit.


You’ve heard about airbags hurting people and may be thinking about getting on/off switches for the airbags in your car. The federal government now has procedures allowing the very few people who may be at risk of serious airbag injury to get switches, but these aren’t appropriate for most people. Are you possibly at risk of airbag injury? Is someone in your family? It isn’t your size, gender, or age that determines risk. It’s your position in relation to an airbag. Anyone who’s very close to, or on top of, an airbag as it begins to inflate can be injured or killed. Most people who have been harmed by airbags weren’t using safety belts or child restraints, and braking before impact caused them to move close to their airbags before inflation.

Once you understand the risks, weigh them against the benefits of airbags, which are important supplements to safety belts. Airbags and belts work together as a system, and one without the other isn’t as effective. Together, they double the protection against head injury that’s afforded by belts alone. The lives saved by airbags far outnumber the deaths they’ve caused. So are you one of the few who’s possibly at risk? Is your family? Probably not, but check the following guidelines to tell for sure.

On the Driver Side: To avoid serious airbag injury risk, a driver of any size or age should always buckle up and sit at least 10 inches away from the steering wheel. The belted drivers potentially at risk are the very few who are positioned so the center of the chest is closer than 10 inches to the center of the steering wheel.

If you sit closer, try other options before seeking an airbag on/off switch. Why? Because without airbags, even belted drivers move forward in serious frontal crashes, and their faces often hit the steering wheel. Try a new seating position. Some drivers who lean forward need only sit back.

Only if it isn’t possible to get back and away from the steering wheel should you consider an airbag on/off switch — for example, if you’ve tried but cannot comfortably drive while sitting back at least 10 inches. If you’re a woman late in pregnancy who needs to drive and cannot get your abdomen away from the steering wheel, you may wish to seek permission for an on/off switch based on medical need.

But remember that sitting close presents its own risks. Without an airbag, your face is likely to hit the steering wheel in a serious frontal crash.

Most 1998 and later cars have redesigned airbags with less powerful inflators that reduce serious injury risk. In these cars, there’s probably no need to get an on/off switch for your airbag even if you cannot get 10 inches from the steering wheel. Still, it’s best to sit back and away from an airbag.

On the Passenger Side: There’s no significant airbag injury risk to properly belted adults sitting back in the seat. The risk on the passenger side is mostly to infants and children who are unrestrained or unbelted — and the remedy is usually as simple as properly restraining kids in a back seat. Sitting in back always was safer, even before airbags, and now it’s more important because it keeps kids away from inflating airbags.

Never put a rear-facing restraint in front with a passenger airbag. The baby’s head would be too close to the airbag. Instead, secure the infant restraint to the center back seat.

Should you ever consider an on/off switch for a passenger airbag? A switch so you can occasionally put a baby up front might seem like a good idea, but if you’re in a hurry it’s easy to forget about the switch. Besides, it’s always safer to ride in back. So there’s only a rare need for an on/off switch — for example, when an infant with medical problems requires constant observation and the driver is the only other person in the vehicle. Then there might be no choice except to put the baby up front, and a passenger airbag would present a risk. Of course, paying constant attention to a baby distracts from driving and involves its own risks.

What if you transport too many infants or small children to put them all in a back seat? It’s okay for an older child to ride up front, even with a passenger airbag, if the seat is all the way back and the child is secured in a lap/shoulder belt and sitting back in the seat. Sitting back is important because leaning forward to, for example, fiddle with radio dials can put a child’s head close to the airbag. If you routinely transport too many kids to put them all in the back and worry about keeping the child up front sitting back and away from the passenger airbag, you may wish to get an on/off switch. If you do get one, remember to use it correctly. Remember to turn off the airbag when an infant or child must ride in front.

Making the Decision: Don’t discount airbag risks. Don’t discount the benefits of airbags, either. If you’re one of the very few for whom airbags may pose a risk, then an on/off switch may be appropriate. But remember how few people really need on/off switches and how easily they can be misused. And remember this: If you turn off your airbag, you’d be forgoing important protection in the event of a serious frontal crash. When you know the facts, it becomes clear that leaving airbags intact is almost always best.

1) MapQuest Directions
On the Web since 1996, MapQuest is still the standard-bearer in online driving directions and the first site I usually turn to when I need to find my way. Getting driving directions is as simple as entering starting and ending addresses. The directions generated are easy to follow, and I’ve found them to be mostly accurate. MapQuest’s driving time estimates, however, can be a bit generous–you’re likely to arrive faster than indicated. Print your directions, email them or transfer them to a PDA.

2) Google Maps
Google is a relatively new player in the world of online mapping, but wow. The detail and accuracy of Google’s road maps is unparalleled, which is particularly helpful if you’d like to plot a scenic route rather than driving Interstates. The driving directions component still produces some rather convoluted routes at times. But this is Google, so expect improvements. For now, use the maps to help you navigate New England’s twists and turns.

3) Yahoo! Driving Directions
The free driving directions that you can get from Yahoo! are good and, in fact, I often compare the directions I get from both MapQuest and Yahoo! before setting out on a trip. I’m not crazy about the printing layout for Yahoo!’s directions. And, on the whole, I think that MapQuest tends to find the more direct route. It’s not a bad idea, though, to compare options, particularly if your destination is unfamiliar or the route prone to traffic congestion.

4) Rand McNally Online Driving Directions
Rand McNally has a map-making history that dates back to 1856, but the company was a bit slow to the dance and didn’t offer free driving directions online until 1999. If you haven’t tried Rand McNally for directions, you should, particularly if you are planning a long trip with multiple segments. I like the customization possibilities, particularly the ability to track total accumulated distance for each step of a trip. An advanced road trip planning tool allows you to add stops along a route.

5) Windows Live Local Driving Directions
As of August 2006, Windows Live Local is still in Beta, but this driving directions tool has to be better than its precursor, MSN’s Map Blast, which looked like something that was created by a high school kid, not the techie folks in Redmond. It’s nice to have the option to choose the shortest instead of the quickest route in these days of high gas prices. If you do opt for speed, keep in mind that the driving time estimates are awfully ambitious unless you plan to really step on it.

6) AAA Driving Directions
My dad sometimes uses AAA for driving directions, but since I’m not a member, I often forget that AAA offers this service free online for anyone. That’s probably for the best, as AAA is slower than other driving directions sites, and it even hiccups when trying to find my home address as a starting point. The directions generated can be rather convoluted, so while they might get you there, it certainly won’t be via the easiest route. The dense type in the printing layout is almost unreadable.

by Kim Knox Beckius

Learning to drive to Pueblo
by Rich Tosches

There’s a feeling you get when your son begins the process of learning how to drive a car, a feeling that’s indescribable. Although, if I had to take a whack at describing the feeling and put it on some kind of list, I’d say it’s somewhere between watching Linda Blair’s head spin around in The Exorcist and the intestinal pain you experience when you eat a plateful of rancid sea bass.

However, it’s important to note that I’m going into the whole thing with a good attitude.

Nick has driven before. He drove my truck on a gravel road high in the mountains when he was 13, his keen driving skills sending tens of thousands of terrified deer, chipmunks and porcupines stampeding over a cliff to their deaths. And he drove my truck on a friend’s sprawling ranch when he was 14. On that day, Nick came to a narrow spot in the road and had to choose between driving over a little stick that was lying on the right side of the road or plunging off the left side of the road, down a steep ravine and into a pond. His brain gathered the information, quickly processed it in that teen-ager way and then he made his decision. I reacted by screaming, grabbing the steering wheel and swerving the vehicle back onto the road. Over the little stick.

But Nick turned 15 in March and this driving thing has become real. Fortunately, he’s spent most of his life observing the world-class driving skills of motorists here in Colorado Springs. Because he’s been studying us so intently, he’s confident that now he, too, can roar mindlessly through a red light at 60 mph while talking on his cell phone.

Serving number 6

A few weeks ago I enrolled him in a National Driver Training Institute program. He was allowed to take the learner’s permit test that same day and he passed it, somehow correctly answering really tough multiple-choice questions that they put on the test, questions such as:

The speed limit in a school zone when the yellow warning lights are flashing is:

A) 20 mph

B) The Adriatic Sea.

C) Chester the Wonder Horse

D) Who Let The Dogs Out?

E) Coal!

Nick got that one wrong, but according to the woman at the Driver Training Institute, he only got two others incorrect and therefore had passed his learner’s permit exam. Thinking he might be legally allowed to drive my vehicle home that afternoon, I suddenly felt a great sense of pride in this young man as I calmly walked outside and threw my set of car keys onto the roof of the building.

Luckily for me — and the 15 nuns, each of them carrying an orphan that I’m pretty sure Nick would have run over in a crosswalk on our way home — the state of Colorado would not allow him to drive just yet.

First, he had to take his test results to the Department of Motor Vehicles, fill out some more paperwork, have his picture taken and obtain his actual permit. The DMV office was next to the driving school office on Austin Bluffs Parkway, so we walked over and took a number. I didn’t write this down anywhere so I’m not positive, but I believe we had number 894 and the red neon sign on the wall announced that they were currently serving number 6.

In and out in 40 minutes

We joined a huge throng of mothers and fathers sitting with their teen-aged children. The scene could have been a Norman Rockwell painting — you know, if Rockwell had painted angry teen-agers slumped in chairs, impatiently clicking their metal tongue studs against their teeth.

After a few minutes, I asked the guy next to me how long he’d been waiting. He said he’d been there for four hours. I thought he was kidding, so I laughed and jokingly asked, “What kind of an idiot would wait four hours for anything, unless, of course, you were waiting in a line to slap the hell out of Doug Bruce?”

The guy moved to the other side of the room. Turns out he wasn’t kidding.

Our state is experiencing budget problems, as you know. Experts believe that by 2010 Colorado will be so broke it will only be able to hire 4,000 new workers to lean on their shovels at the intersection of Woodmen Road and I-25. Because of these budget problems, our village now has just one DMV office where you can get a driver’s license or learner’s permit. And people are, indeed, forced to wait four and even five hours for their licenses.

So I did the sensible thing. I took my son to Pueblo. In Pueblo, there’s hardly ever a line for anything. The exception comes each September, when State Fair executives set up a carnival booth and invite people to “Step right up and watch us guess how much money the State Fair lost this year!”

Anyway, we were out of the DMV office in Pueblo in 40 minutes. My son had his learner’s permit. And because of a new law that went into effect July 1, he must wait one year before he gets his license. So it looks like I’ll be the passenger in my Chevy Suburban for the next 12 months.

As soon as Nick climbs onto the roof of the Pueblo DMV office and finds the keys.

– richt@csindy.com

STATE KEEPS INCREASING RESTRICTIONS ON YOUNG DRIVERS

By MEGAN ROLLAND THE GAZETTE

To a 16-year-old squirming with excitement, a six-month delay in attaining speed, freedom, a driver’s license, can seem like an eternity.

And restraints that kick in even after the rite of passage has been granted seem beyond unjust.

“We’ve had teenagers who have said, ‘I think the governor is just trying to keep me from dating,’” said Steve Williams, Colorado Springs office manager of National Driver Training, a nonprofit driver education program.

Seven laws enacted in the past two years have complicated the original graduated driver’s license law, passed in 1999, to ensure that minor drivers have experience before obtaining complete driving privileges.

Colorado parents, teens, police, driver education instructors, and even licensing agents aren’t certain anymore who can do what at what age without consulting a complicated chart.

“They change all the time, and I have found that very few people understand them,” said Ken Hughes, manager of American Driving Academy Inc. in Colorado Springs. He agrees with the principle of the 1999 law, but said he is still waiting to see the benefits of the many additions since then.

Automobiles are the leading killer of people under age 25, and police officers who respond to fatal crashes are applauding the legislators’ many restrictions.

“A little bit of confusion to save handfuls of lives every year is worth it,” said John Anderson, program manager for Alive at 25, a Colorado State Patrol driver awareness program.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently released a study that said the most comprehensive graduated driver’s license programs, including Colorado’s, have achieved about a 20 percent reduction in the number of 16-year-old drivers involved in fatal accidents.

The study compiled information from 36 states with graduated licensing programs and seven without. Forty-one states have some type of program.

In Colorado last year, 47 people ages 16 to 20 were killed in wrecks involving teen drivers. In 2004, that number was almost double, with 81 such fatalities, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Anderson said he has helped pound the sobering statistics of teenage driving into about 12,000 young drivers’ minds every year.

About half of the people enrolled in Alive at 25 are court-ordered traffic violators; the other half are enrolled to get their instructional permits at age 15½.

Instructional permits are restricted licenses that allow minors to drive only with someone 21 or older.

Minors in Colorado have three options: take a 36-hour driver’s education class and get a permit at age 15, take a much shorter driver awareness program such as Alive at 25 and get a permit at age 15½, or take no class and get a permit at age 16.

“I really didn’t want to waste my summer away,” Kristen Zumback said as she waited this month for a four-hour driver awareness class to begin at National Driver Training, 4432 Austin Bluffs Parkway.

The 15½-year-old planned on heading straight to the Department of Motor Vehicles after the class with proof of completion so she could get her permit.

“I think it’s good so everyone knows how to drive,” she said, referring to the awareness class, but she she said she could do without the curfew and passenger laws — especially because her boyfriend just turned 17.

Before getting their licenses, drivers under age 18 must have their permits for a full year and log 50 hours of driving, including 10 hours of nighttime driving.

Legislation passed this year also mandated attendance in the shorter driver awareness programs for minors convicted of traffic offenses such as reckless driving, drunken driving or causing serious crashes.

Nationwide, 11 out of every 20,000 drivers and passengers under age 24 will be killed in car accidents, he said.

If a teen forgoes driver education, perhaps because of the approximately $300 price tag for a full course and around $30 for an awareness course, he or she must wait until age 16 to get an instructional permit.

“People who have the money to spare are able to get their permits sooner,” Williams said.

LAWS AFFECTING MINOR DRIVERS

Colorado adopted the Graduated Driver’s License law in 1999 because statistics showed minors were involved in fatal accidents at a rate far exceeding that for older drivers. Eight additional bills have been passed since then, tightening restrictions on minor drivers. The following rules apply to those drivers.

GETTING A DRIVER’S LICENSE

Minors under the age of 18 must hold an instructional permit for one year and log 50 hours of daytime driving and 10 hours of nighttime driving with the person who signed the liability affidavit; a person appointed by the signer; or a driver education instructor.

The signer of the liability affidavit takes legal responsibility for a minor’s actions while the minor is driving. Acceptable signers are a parent or stepparent, a grandparent with power of attorney, a guardian or a foster parent.

As of July 1, if the signer does not have a Colorado license, an alternate, who is at least 21 years old and has a valid Colorado license, may be appointed. Also, military personnel with out-of-state licenses are now permitted to monitor permit driving.

At age 16, a minor becomes eligible for an instructional permit, without taking any type of driver education. The earliest age possible to receive a license in this situation is 17.

At age 15½, a minor becomes eligible for an instructional permit if a state-approved driving awareness program is completed, which takes about four hours and doesn’t include behind-the-wheel training. The earliest possible age to receive a license in this situation is 16½.

At age 15, a minor becomes eligible for an instructional permit with proof of enrollment in a 30-hour driver education program, which includes six hours of behind-the-wheel training. The earliest possible age to receive a license in this situation is 16.

RESTRICTIONS ON DRIVING

Minors with instructional permits may drive with anyone who is at least 21 years old and has a valid Colorado driver’s license. The adult must be in the front seat, and the time cannot count toward logged hours unless the signer of the liability affidavit is in the car.

Minors with instructional permits may not use cellular telephones while driving. This is a secondary offense, meaning drivers cannot be pulled over solely for the use of a cell phone.

Drivers under age 18 may have only one person ride in the front seat, and no more passengers in the back seat than there are seat belts.

Drivers under age 18 who have had their licenses for less than six months cannot have passengers under age 21. Minors who have had their licenses for at least six months but less than a year can have one passenger under the age of 21. The following exceptions apply to both rules:

The signer of the liability affidavit is in the vehicle; an adult who has held a valid driver’s license for at least one year is in the car; there is a medical emergency; or a passenger who is under 21 is an immediate family member.

Drivers under age 18 can’t drive from midnight to 5 a.m. unless they have held their licenses for one year. They can drive during those hours if:

- Someone in the car is a signer of the liability affidavit or is at least 21 and has held a valid Colorado license for at least a year.

- The minor is driving to school or a school-authorized activity and the school doesn’t provide transportation. A dated and signed statement from the school official is required.

- The minor is driving because of employment. A signed statement from the employer is required.

- The minor is driving because of an emergency.

- The minor is emancipated, but his or her parents haven’t canceled the minor’s license by withdrawing their liability affidavit.