For many students, having a driver’s license is freeing. Being able to control when and where they go is a common experience in becoming independent and getting ready for adulthood. In order to acquire a license under the age of eighteen, it is required to pass Driver’s Education and pass the State Road Skills test.

When asked about what requirements for getting a license he would change, Sam White, a Driver’s Education teacher, said, “I think getting your license on your birthday is a big deal. If you’ve met all the requirements, if you’ve done all your drives, if you’ve done all your hours, I think you should be able to get your license on your birthday.” Sophomore Aiden Felt feels that “there are a lot of bad drivers. I would probably make the final test for your license a lot more strict.” He stated that he made a lot of mistakes on his test, and the instructor never even wrote them down.

While most people say that parallel parking is the hardest part of driving, White thinks that “intersections are tough, just because there’s a lot going on. Especially in big intersections, when there’s like a flashing yellow arrow, and pedestrians and stuff.” Situations like these can make parents nervous to let their kids drive.

For parents that do not know how often to take kids out driving, White explained that for student drivers, “The research shows that the more time they spend with their parents, the better. And I know it’s hard for the parents, because it’s scary, it’s really scary.” He continued, “But once the student has driven with the instructor once or twice, and you kinda get a feel for gas, brake, right and left turns, that’s when parents should let the kids drive as much as they can. The more experience you have, the better you get.” While it may seem difficult at first, it gets better over time.

Many students are scared to drive, and White’s advice is to “start slow. Like, start in your neighborhood. If you live on a busy street, have your parents drive you to a quiet parking lot or quiet neighborhood and switch, and then you start driving.” After doing that, “build some confidence […] just gradually spend more and more time on it.” He warns, “Don’t try to go on the freeway your first drive, don’t try to back out onto State Street or something like that. A parking lot is a great spot to just work on gas, brake, and then right and left turns.” Felt believes that taking Driver’s Education through Skyline is a “bad idea” and has a “way of making you fearful of doing something wrong.” While there are lots of students that are hesitant to drive, the opposite is also true.

To students prone to reckless driving, White says, “Your parents, by the time you’re 16, 17, 18, they’ve spent a lot of time and energy on you, and the worst thing in the world would be for you to get in a crash and die after they’ve spent so much time trying to keep you safe and look out for you and get you to a good life. So I would say, not only for yourself, but for your parents sake, drive slow, drive the speed limit, and be cautious.” 

Taking licenses away from all teens just because some are bad drivers isn’t the solution. Having bad drivers just means that Driver’s Education isn’t teaching students the true consequences of unsafe driving. White agrees, and his final advice was to “just practice, be safe, and live a good, long life.”