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I Love Teaching Others

I am a Drivers Ed Instructor. A fellow Drivers Ed Instructor and are having a difference of opinion and I would like some feedback from the SW audience.

The Drivers Ed program here is 16 1-1/2 hour driving sessions plus 16 1-1/2 hour lectures. I am only concerned with the driving sessions as we instructors do not get involved in the lecture classes. The 16 driving sessions consist of each instructor taking out 4 students for 1-1/2 hours of driving. Each student gets around 20 minutes driving time each.

As Instructors, we are told by the driving school that employs us, that we are to teach the students [u]exactly[/u] what they [u]need[/u] to know to pass the state road test. Anything else we might teach them about driving is secondary. We are told that we should [u]not[/u] begin procedures like three point turns and parallel parking until around the 8th class. We are told that if we decide to allow students on highways and parkways it should only be toward the end of the course, like around session 14, 15, 16. My fellow Instructor agrees with this.

I on the other hand, on the first day of class, throw a lot of different things at my students IF they have driven before. If a student has never driven, I will start them in a large parking lot for their first session and then get them out on road. For the ones that have some driving time, I have them try a parallel park or three point turn. This allows me to see how well they can handle the car and how much work they actually need. I also will take them out on main highways, parkways, and busy roads to give them road experience.

By session 5, most of my students can drive very competently and can usually parallel park without any problems. They are familiar with driving on highways and know the rules of the roads. 98% of my students pass their state road test the first time. Many of the students of my fellow instructor, can't successfully park by the last class and have no highway or parkway experience.

My students, (and their parents,) all seem to like me and even recommend me to other students as they all seem to like the way I teach, what I teach, and how I teach.

I guess what I am asking is what way would you prefer to be taught to drive and prepare for the state road test? Which Instructor and/or instruction methods would you prefer? Also, if you like, please share your driving lesson experiences as I'd like to hear them. Thanks.
MikeSp · 56-60, M
If your comparative description is correct, you are obviously the better instructor. As a pilot since 16 and exposed to many different flight instructors, I know that teaching styles can vary widely. As pilots and professional truck drivers have to adopt a safety culture mindset or die, we believe that makes them better drivers, so I have opinions about today’s car drivers. In my experience observing other drivers and analyzing the results of vehicle accidents, fully 80% of car drivers out there are not properly trained, or they’ve picked up lazy habits, or they use the vehicle to play out their emotions.

Fortunately for driver’s, there are both initial written exams and practical tests, just like in flying. Unfortunately in some states, licenses can be renewed by mail in multiple eight year cycles. Pilots are required to take a flight review with an instructor every 24 months unless they are training for a higher license or rating. I feel drivers should be required to take both a written exam and a practical test every five years until they voluntarily give up driving or are forced to. Several new traffic laws are added to the books or are modified all the time, and the only way some will learn of them is to be stopped for a violation. Also, one’s physical, mental, or emotional health can change in ways that impair driving, but they wouldn’t know it until they cause an accident. Testing frequently will identify those no longer qualified to drive.

People forget that driving is a privilege earned by demonstrated capabilities, and not a right. An average of 35,000 people per year have died in traffic accidents over the past 10 years. The number of injuries is obviously much higher. If the federal government can mandate ID requirements and make other laws governing traffic, they can require a much safer system of driver instruction, testing, and renewals. Mountain states should add instruction unique to their terrain since most of their applicants would be residents.

To your question, I believe teaching merely to pass a driving test is criminal and immoral. The 48 hours of instruction that your private driving school provides is a great number, and I’m sure your students are highly qualified to be on the road. I suspect however that instruction provided by the public school systems pales by comparison, and those instructors are coaches or teachers whose primary job focus is not driving instruction.

I believe in addition to proving one’s competence to the state, all students should be taught how to be a Defensive Driver. IOW, how to pay attention to other drivers and what they might do next, looking several vehicles ahead and not just the one in front of you, leaving yourself an out, checking current and forecast weather conditions, etc. DD students should also be taught how to check fluids and tire pressure, how to change a flat tire or a fuse, etc., since most teens are no longer taught these things by their parents. As an incentive, DD graduates could be given lower license fees and insurance rates. My opinions; your mileage may vary.
Ynotisay · M
Good comment. I bet that's an interesting job.
I think it was a little different in the old days. We had to sit through remarkably lame "simulators" that meant nothing, spend the briefest amount of time driving in a car with an instructor and two other students, and that was that. 15 1/2 you got your permit. 16 and you were on the road.
I think most of us at the time learned to drive with our parents in parking lots and backroads. The rules of driving might be better learned by systematic teaching but I think actually driving a car is more about experience and time behind the wheel.
IM5688 · 61-69, M
@Ynotisay It actually is an interesting job. Of course some people think I secretly have a death wish, teaching teenagers how to drive. On an up side though, hanging out with 16 - 18 year olds makes me feel a little younger...which is always a plus at 62. My students think I'm cool too...LOL
Ynotisay · M
Glad there's people like you out there. ANYTHING you can do or say to make sure they never pick up a freaking phone when they're driving would be greatly appreciated. :)
IM5688 · 61-69, M
@Ynotisay Actually, I stress that fact. There is no call or text so very important that it must be answered while driving...if there is such an importance, then pull over someplace safely and answer it.
I also stress to them, that when they are driving, they must always be observant and must always think that everyone else on the road is an idiot.
suburbs · 22-25, F
Highways towards the end of the course? That's insane. Y'all are going to be cranking out some horrible drivers with that schedule. I took Driver's Ed recently and we had an evaluation on highways, three-point turns and such by like the eighth day (we learned about them on probably the third or fourth day of class).

You're in the right.
IM5688 · 61-69, M
@suburbs Thank you. I tell my students that if they are going to live and work here, they should absolutely know how to drive here and get around. I try to get them out on the roads, highways and parkways as soon as possible so they will have at least some experience besides what is needed to pass the road test.

 
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