Professional instructors say it's time to require driver's ed
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SALEM, Ore. – On Thursday night, police say a 15-year-old driver lost control of the SUV she was driving on Roy Rogers Road in Sherwood. The SUV crossed the centerline and struck 66-year-old Dale Smith on his motorcycle, killing him.
The teen was driving with a valid learner's permit and there was a licensed driver with her.
According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, two thirds of teenage drivers in Oregon only learn how to drive from their parents. There's nothing illegal about that. It is not known if the teenager in Thursday's accident had received professional driving instruction.
But many professional driving instructors want lawmakers to force teenagers to take professional driving classes so they don't learn the bad habits their parents may teach them.
Click the "Play Video" button above to watch KATU’s Dan Cassuto get critiqued by a professional driving instructor and get some tips to make him, and perhaps you, a better driver.
Driver's ed in Coquille was a JOKE .
I got licensed as a teen while living in a state that required drivers ed. However it was also provided as a class in high school. There were fees for the class to cover fuel and such but it was minimal. I personally think it is a valuable class. My 16 year old daughter who has a learners permit now has learned almost everything she knows about driving from her mom who has questionable driving skills as it is. I cringe to think of what is to come of our car and insurance rates... I lost the battle to get her in a drivers ed course.
 @Gleeker Well, I don't envy your situation. If it were my kid, I wouldn't allow them to get a learners permit until they took drivers ed. I'd put those steering wheel locks on the car if I had to to keep them from driving. If my spouse didn't feel my kid needed drivers ed, well some fights are worth fighting. Especially when the safety of my child (and other people) are the issue.Â
They have the ring of cash registers and dollar signs in their eye's! I suspect its all about the $ and not the kids..
 @Khre'Riov Ael i-Mhiessan t'Rllaillieu Not true actually. My family owns that Driver's Ed company and that was my brother teaching on the video. He still tries to give me driving advice even though I've been driving for almost ten years and I'm not paying him. He cares about teens as does my dad who owns the company. Of course there's money involved, as there is in any business, but teens need to be taught good driving habits from the get-go, and if their parents are driving with their knees and texting on their cell phones, how will their kids know any better?
You can lead a horse to water but you can not make it drink! Kids will do it regardless because they can..
I was provided the chance to take Driver's Ed. over 30 years ago in Bend through the school district. It was invaluable. Now if you want your child to take it, the cost is totally your responsibility. The price for it is prohibitive for those in economic trouble. I don't have several hundred extra dollars to put my son thought the state sanctioned training. I have trouble keeping a room over our heads and food on the table as it is.
 @NativeOregonean A funeral, or a lawsuit, are a whole helluva lot more expensive.
Of course the 'professionals' say it's time for it to be required. They want your money....
My mother taught my brother and I how to drive safely as well as driver education in high school but were 66 years old. Driving,progressively, has gotten worse through lack of enforcement of driving laws and bad habits. If children are learning from their parents and their parents are poor drivers........there you go! I do believe driver education in high school is the answer to improving driver safety but now days most people just don't give a damn and care more about safety after an accident has happened.
I learned when I was driving field trucks, but wasn't driving flatbed trucks on the roads until I was 12. By 14 I had several cars.Â
I still took a driver's education class at 15 through the high school, it might have been required to get a license at 16 instead of waiting until reaching 18? I don't recall for sure, but it sounds like a good idea now.
As the mother of 4 teens, I agree with the need for driver's education and require it of my own children before they can get their license. Every time we go out on the roads, there are plenty of examples that I can point out to my children of dangerous driving habits that drivers exhibit. Pushing red lights or running them altogether, switching lanes erratically and without signaling, driving too fast, following too closely, and the list goes on. I've even seen adult drivers reading a book in their steering wheel while driving I-5. My oldest daughter points out that can be a form of natural selection, but they hurt the innocent they involve in accidents due to their unsafe driving practices.
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And the adults pass these along to their teens. There is a reason that insurance companies give a discount for teens who have taken driver's ed.
I learned to drive from my father and I am actually a better driver than many of the morons out there driving. I think this is more of a knee jerk reaction than anything. I don't think its so much kids learning bad habits from their parents but rather just being young and stupid, trying to get somewhere quicker. I learned to drive when I was 17 and even when I was in my late 30s before my dad passed away, he would still chastise me for some of my driving habits. Sorry but don't blame the parents for how their kids drive when the parents aren't around....that's not the fault as to why they wreck or drive like an idiot. If anything blame the kids and their friends....peer pressure goes alot further than anything at that age
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In Ohio, back in my day at least, drivers ed was required, but I still ended up having at least fifteen minor incidents from then (16) until I was about 27. Some involved tickets, some involved repairing minor damage to my car after visits to ditches. However, since I turned 27, I've never had a single incident. Guess it was all about maturation - mine apparently didn't hit for a few years past when I was 16...haha. Too bad we can't determine that maturation point, and withhold a license until then, cause I know I sure wasn't ready.
Well in America all they need to do is pay a huge BRIBE to a crooked politrixter and then, bam! You can corner the market, has to be a big bribe though...
"""""But many professional driving instructors want lawmakers to force teenagers to take professional driving classes so they don't learn the bad habits their parents may teach them""""
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they couldn't possibly be arguing change the laws because it would mean a 300% increase in their business......
 @kramr Why that would be like making Americans whose families have lived here for over 200 years get a $49 dollar ID just to vote..
Wait are these driving class / schools owned by republicans as well.
OK
 @cptmac11  @kramr Your right we shouldn't require ID's to vote. Because if we did then Democrats wouldn't be able to travel to other states and vote twice for their candidate.
 @kramr Using a political rout to gain more profit?  Must be the first time that has ever happened....
Wow no wonder Oregon driver's can't drive....and why this state has been rated  the 2nd worst place in the nation for risks. When I grew up in New York, driver's ed was taught in high school. It cracks me up to watch people here parallel park....and I love to see them park on the wrong side of the street...and now that poor teenager going to spend her life with that drama and sadness,Â
 @Tyler Van Pelt I am sure that in New York every single person can parallel park with no issues and of course no one in New York would ever dream of parking on the wrong side of the street. Yeah you keep believing that.Â
"But many professional driving instructors want lawmakers to force teenagers to take professional driving classes so they don't learn the bad habits their parents may teach them."
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Of course they would say this. It's promoting their job and increasing job security.
 @RalphCramden That would be like professional voting instructors showing you how to vote republican.
Of course they would say this. it's promoting their job and well you get the rest...
 @cptmac11 To consider this a partisan issue seems a real stretch to me. Of course the professional driving instructors have a financial interest in this proposal and that should be considered but it doesn't automatically make it a bad idea.
@cptmac11 @RalphCramden It's the other way around, they're ( liberal teachers ) programing our kids to think (and drink the kool-aid) like democrats. Of course once they mature they see through the B.S. the demo's are about and vote Republican.
Every Oregon Driver should be required to take this class. Oregon is full of idiot drivers, no one pays attention at all, which is why this is the slowest posted speed limit state on the west coast.
 @Oregon_University_of_Made_in_China I don't believe that the lack of professional driver education requirements is linked to the state speed limits. I suspect the fact that our speed limit is lower than other Western states probably has more to do with the environmental concerns among many of our state politicians and a good portion of the electorate.
Or at the very least, maybe the parents need to take a test/refresher class before they are eligible to serve as a "driving instructor".
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Remember that most of the laws regarding instruction were probably put on the books back in the 1950s, when roads and traffic were a little bit different.
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Ya they just want more money. They don't even care about driver safety. People still can't drive even after their "professional" instruction.Â
Yes. Yes. Yes. 90% of the drivers on the road could use some driver's education. Especially when it comes to pulling onto freeways, merging lanes, using signals, keeping enough distance between cars, not constantly changing lanes, letting people in, keeping right except when passing (and learning to be smart enough to recognize when they should move to the left as well). etc.
I know that taking beginners and advanced motorcycle classes as well as over a decade of riding experience has helped with my driving skill.Even when I'm in my car,I'm constantly scanning for dangerous situations.I also have rode with complete idiots when I've had to break off on my own because riding super fast should be reserved for the track.
This proposal strikes me as probably a good idea. Even people who are responsible, defensive drivers may not know all of the laws nor do they necessarily have the skills to be an effective teacher.
I would love to see a licensing program like they have in Germany. Basically that program requires extensive classroom and behind the wheel experience over a two-year period of time and a "full" license cannot be obtained until the student sucessfully passes all the required coursework and driving skill demonstration/experience, and they reach their eighteenth birthday.
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It is very unfortunate that this girl killed another motorist but it is hard to imagine why this happened. Any changes to the laws will not bring back Mr. Smith but changes could reduce the liklihood of another similar tragedy. Certainly a public-private partnership could pave the way for professional driving instructors as "agents" to issue licenses, thereby freeing DMV workers for other tasks. (I would like to know how many DMV testers fail the driver during the driving test portion, and how many just pass the problems on to society.)Â
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Condolences to Mr. Smith's family and friends. This was a tragedy that should not have happened.
If many parents can't teach their children anything important about life, how are they ever going to teach responsibility behind the wheel of a car?
Interesting to say the least. Now the finger pointing may start.
Even trained drivers have accidents.
 @Just Lookin Probably caused by drivers that didn't take drivers ed or by 15 year-olds who don't know how to drive being taught by non-teachers, just like the video says. I think this a great idea that needs to happen now! It should also be required for elderly drivers.Â
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 @leapfrogger  @Just Lookin Tell you what if it is such a good idea you can pay for everyone in Oregon learning how to drive to take behind the wheel drivers education, and unless your willing to pony up the money then your opinion means nothing to anyone.
 @BarbWire Oh, and my opinion does matter because it obviously caused a stir in you! Also, I won't pay for your drivers ed but I will sue you if hit me!
 @mikew  @BarbWire Thanks mikew, couldn't have said it better. I was all ready to point out to bitter BarbWire that it's not my (or anyone else) responsibility to ensure that all drivers are capable of the responsibility of driving. Yes, it is a privilege to drive and at any point that privilege can & should be taken away when abused. If BarbWire cares so little about everyone else on the road to ensure he/she is a good driver, then perhaps his/her driving privilege should be taken away. I've been in two accidents in my driving life, one was a drunk driver who pulled out in front of us. My sister broke her back in that one. The other was on old guy pulling out from a parking lot who looked straight at me and pulled out right in front of me anyhow! I had no time to react because he did it when I was no more then one or two car lengths from him. So everyone needs to PROVE they are capable of earning the privilege to drive. Lives are at stake. Driving is not a video game. When you die or kill someone or cause them bodily harm, it's forever.
 @BarbWire While i am sensitive to costs that can be burdensome to many Oregonians, driving is legally defined as a privilege and therefore the people of Oregon have the right to raise the standards in order to increase road safety. Like most other government proposals, we need to carefully weight the costs and the benefits in making a decision.