Anonymous
In Canada, more young people are killing themselves on the highway than any other age group. Young drivers, 16-24 years old, make up some 27-30 percent of traffic fatalities each year. Yet their share of he population is only about 19 percent.
Those who have taken a driver education course stand a far, far better chance. A survey taken by the Ontario Safety League showed that some 2,000 young graduates of its "pro drivers" course had almost 50 percent fewer accidents than average young drivers -- and almost 20 percent less accidents than adults!
What better case is there for driver education in the schools? No student should be allowed to leave high school unless he or she has had driver's education and obtained a driver's license. In a country where almost 53 percent of the population drives, the money spent would be a good form of investment -- a form of insurance.
Although over half the population of Canada can drive a car, most young people are still being taught how to drive by a friend or an older member of their family. What are the results? According to insurance company statistics Canada, there is an accident rate of one out of every four young beginning male drivers. Girls do a little better -- 1.2 out of every ten.
Driver education courses are the only answer to decreasing the high accident and fatality rate of beginning drivers in Canada. But most schools lack the money to set up driver education programs -- or the teachers qualified to teach it. Because of a ruling of the Teachers' Federation, only high school teachers are allowed to give in-class instruction on driving. Their teachers must take a course in driver education from their provincial chapter of their safety league over the summer months. Many schools cannot afford to sponsor a teacher to such a course. So the majority of students go without driver preparation, while there are other qualified officials or instructors in their city who might have the ability to teach classroom and practical fundamentals of driving.
Large car manufacturing companies often generously donate the use of dual control cars to schools who set up their own driving programs. If a fee is paid for the course, many schools might be able to provide driver training for its students. But this is not enough. Driver education must be made available to all high school students.
One progressive program set up in Ontario can be found in Scarborough township. near Toronto, where ten schools have full courses to teach their students driving.
The course, standardized by the Ontario Department of Transport, is similar to those in other provinces. It includes 25 hours of study in the classroom, six hours of in-car instruction, and 12 hours of in-car observation.
The major problem, most teachers say, is finding time in the curriculum. Except for vocational and occupational school, where driving is taught as a regular subject, driving courses are given after class hours. Driver training students often are hired to give schools actual driving practice.
"There's a real demand, a real need for such training," says C. Monkman, the director of the driver education program for Scarborough. " We have trouble keeping up with it."
Adults must be made to realize that driver education is essential. Students have the power to make them aware of this. A driver education course is easy to arrange and sponsors can often be found to finance it. You can set up your own driver training program with the co-operation of your school -- making sure that your friends you go to class with today, won't be traffic statistics a year later.
©1999 TG Magazine/Le Magazine TG
tgmag@tgmag.ca