Industrial News

High school driver ed programs warrant serious re-examination

Ron Kendall, facilitator for a Nevadan driver education task force, advocates training on simulators for high school drivers. (PROVIDED TO THE RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL)

Let's put high school driver education on the same level as sports.

Because teenagers have better reflexes in sports than most adults, we train them to use their reflexes to best effect.

However, for these teenagers, driving a car is more important than to society in general. Hundreds of Nevada learner permits are issued each month, and statute requires 50 hours of behind-the-wheel experience with a parent or guardian. When you calculate the fuel cost it is mind-boggling, which leads to the need for a serious examination of our driver-training programs. If nothing else, effective use of simulators could have a significant effect on global warming.

Car accidents are the top killer of teenage drivers. Sadly from 2002 to 2006, Nevada teen motor vehicle fatal accidents for ages 15 to 19 totaled 90 drivers and 76 passengers. These Nevada deaths and injuries happen to every family, in small and big towns.

We put tremendous time and energy into a wide variety of high school sports programs. Those programs are very effectively supported by parents and community citizens led by experienced, well-trained coaches.

How many teenage fatalities do we see in any of those programs?

My vision is to elevate high school driver training to the same level as the sports programs.

Yes, it will cost money, but when we consider the cost of vehicle crashes and human lives, it puts the need for improved driver training in the forefront.

High school students thrive on competition because they want to participate in sports programs to demonstrate they can excel.

Effective driver training starts in the classroom learning about rules of the road and traffic control devices (signals, signs and markings). This could then be emphasized by driving-simulator hands-on experience, followed by behind the wheel experience.

Driving simulation can give students experience with hazardous situations that would be too dangerous for them to encounter in the real world without adequate experience. Instruction by a trained and experienced coach is also critical.

The driving simulator can provide such a wide variety of cognitive skill challenges that "behind-the-wheel" training cannot. Furthermore, a curriculum including simulator training could be developed to present a high school "Safe Driver" contest including:

• Trained, experienced coaches.
• Current Nevada driving rules.
• Standardized curriculum.
• Coaches training students to experience all driving situations using driving simulators with ever-increasing levels of difficulty.
• Various scenarios such as DUI, weather, terrain and a child chasing a ball rolling onto the street, pets or wild animals crossing the street, emergency vehicle lights and sirens, etc., showing results needed to make corrections for review to continue with the training.

Use "Behind the wheel" experience for contest preparation and use contest statistics to demonstrate program effectiveness.

Simulators in combination with classroom and behind-the-wheel experience could provide a very safe, cost-effective tool for improving teenager driving skills and reducing their high accident rates.

What about teenage drivers who complete this program with an A (no lower!) getting a discount on insurance? And have you seen the news lately, where cars fitted with a small camera (parents have them installed) are making teens drive more responsibly? Heck of an incentive. Break a speed limit, don't buckle up, run a stop sign or a red light, and lose the car keys!

Ron Kendall is facilitator for the Nevada ad hoc Driver Education Task Force. He lives in Carson City.