I live in Ontario, Canada, and recelty it has come to light here that statistically, young drivers who take the drivers education courses which are accepted by the government and entitle graduates to an insurance discount are actually more likely to get in an accident than drivers who were taught by non-professionals and even more likely to get in an accident than someone who taught him or herself to drive.
in this province there have been tougher regulations for young drivers for some time now; it's called graduated licensing, and inexperienced drivers now have stages of licensing they pass through. It seems to have some positive effect on protecting young drivers from their own irresponsibility.
but now, it behooves the government and driving educators to look at what causes the high rate of accidents, and how that can be prevented. if paying $1000 for a qualified expert to teach you the best way to drive makes a youth more likely to get in an accident, why is that, and what can be done to make education effective instead of hazardous?
education is supposed to be a pill that cures problems, now we can see that the wrong kind of educational approach doesn't help at all.
for very similar reasons, in your state you could ask yourselves if it is necessary to take away peoples rights to make them safer. driving is a very important part of life in the USA, and taking away someones right to drive is very much like taking away their right to earn a living or have a home. obviously if it is for the public good, then employment rights and economic factors can be restructured, but wouldn't it be better if adults made moves to ensure that young drivers are educated, aware, and in a position where they have an alternative to driving rather than being forced to take the car home in comprimising situations? rather than weighing down young people with chains, taking away their rights as economic citizens, it might be better to think about proactive steps that can be taken which will be productive instead of restrictive.
for my part, I think graduated licensing is more or less a good idea. paying off the government to get an insurance break and pretending that it counts as safety training, as we have done here in Ontario, is not a good idea. Public transportation is a good idea. teaching children how to be safe is a good idea. it is better to have constructive ideas than destructive restrictions.
