As I witness yet another driving incident in the student parking lot, I can’t help but think of whether these student drivers should actually be on the road driving. The concept of about a hundred considerably new drivers in one area sounds like a disaster bound to happen.
Obviously, beginners need to start somewhere and there’s a reason why many students need to drive to school. But while I drive around, I wonder if the driver’s test was actually enough to pass these new drivers.
According to IIHS Crash Tests+1Bankrate+1 , “Teen drivers (ages 16–19) have a crash rate nearly four times higher per mile driven than adult drivers.”
In Florida, the age to obtain a full driver’s license is only 16 years of age. I actually just took my driver’s test recently. I passed, and now I’m on the road with all the other inexperienced teenage drivers. I took my test 6 months late due to the fact I felt not “ready” and fear of not passing the dreadful test. But when I decided it was my time to drive and prepared for the exam, I was utterly surprised by how simple the test was.
To ensure I learned how to drive safely, I invested in a driving instructor who taught me the rules of the road and any effective techniques to use. In my final lessons which have been leading to the test, he ran me through the actual distressing test.
I was baffled to learn that the test had very few components. The only aspects with any need of technique is a three point turn, stopping quickly, reversing and lastly the dreaded straight in parking. However, these aren’t the only things graded on, with smaller things that require less skill such as stopping at a stop sign, staying in your lane, signaling and checking blind spots.
While these are things that require ability, I was astonished that the test my parents have warned me about was nothing like the test they took. In the 1990s, Florida decided to drop parallel parking because that was the reason “they all failed.” They also had to do components not available today such as navigating intersections. Since cars were less advanced than modern cars nowadays, the evaluations were stricter.
I brought up this observation to my driving instructor after my test and his theory made a lot of sense. He believed that with the safety of cars nowadays has led to easier tests. And he even thinks that this problem will end his driving lesson business. I believe the driving test’s difficulty needs to be increased to a higher standard. Whether that be including a required written portion to ensure traffic laws are known or driving on the real road to see real life obstacles. Although they took this component out because of fatalities, the test instructor should be given an automatic break to control any close calls.
So next time you see a 16-year-old driving and wonder “How on earth did they get their license”, well it’s probably because the test has been intensely dumbed down for an easy pass rate!
