Driver Education
Driver Education. Courses in which basic driving skills, techniques of safe driving, and traffic laws are taught are available in many places. Driver education is most commonly given in public high schools. Many public high schools require that each student take some sort of driver education course before being graduated. Some states arrange for students in private and parochial schools and nonstudents of high school age to take driver education courses through the public school system.
Private driving schools give driving lessons for a fee. Some city governments operate driving schools at which people may learn to drive and where persons convicted of serious traffic offenses must take driving improvement courses.
There is much controversy as to how effective driver education courses are. Some studies have shown that drivers who have taken the courses are involved in few accidents. Other studies have shown that driver education courses have little effect in reducing the accident rate.
Most high school driver education courses begin with classroom instruction devoted to learning safety rules, traffic laws, and driving skills. Some classrooms have simulators, nonmoving electromechanical devices that the students operate as they would automobiles and that record the student drivers' actions.
The majority of driver education courses include several hours of behind-the-wheel instruction—actual driving under the supervision of a teacher. This practice driving may take place in a special area, in a parking lot, or in a street with only light traffic. Often, cars used for such practice driving are dual-control automobiles that can be operated by the teacher as well as by the driver.