Maine teens are dying on our roadways at an alarming rate. Everyone thinks that it won't happen to our own young loved ones, but recent crashes in Maine show us that is not true.
Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers held public meetings to discuss the situation. This resulted in new laws with increased penalties for teen driving infractions. While that may help the situation it does not address the "real" problem.
I attended his public meeting at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles office in Lewiston. He was reluctant to increase driver education requirements that might cause the cost to increase, which could limit students. He even suggested that some sort of financial assistance could be needed if training requirements were increased.
Experienced drivers require insurance coverage, too; politicians might next be suggesting financial help there as well!
Many people consider driving a right when it is really a privilege. Politicians seem to think that increasing the number of rules, regulations and severity of penalties solves everything.
The bottom line is that teens need to improve driving skills. Well, if my last drive down the interstate is any indication, about one-half of Maine's drivers need to improve their skills. Why not impose the new penalties for every Maine driver?
Who can honestly say that they haven't seen someone do something stupid on their last hour-long drive on Maine's roads.
Dan Morency, Freeport
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The problem of teenage
The problem of teenage driving has little to do with driving skills and a whole lot to do with the absence of thinking skills, which at 16 and 17, they have very little of. Doesn't matter how well you can handle the vehicle if you can't think your way trhough stuff.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.There is some what of a solution..
Ever since I was about five years old I've been fascinated with driving. I went through your typical drivers ed class to get my drivers license as soon as I could. That wasn't enough. At eighteen I got my commercial drivers license. At that age I couldn't drive out of state, but I got a good bit of life training in those years.
When I first received my class one. I had an instructor tell me you can legally drive a truck but you won't be a truck driver for at least five years. So I took those four years of instate driving to learn as much as I could.
I ended up driving for twenty two years with out so much as a moving violation or at fault accident. That was no accident.
Kids today need to be taught real life driving situations that need to be properly corrected. Driving shouldn't be an on the job training sort of experience. How many kids are trained what to do when they drift onto the soft shoulder. That and black ice are two of the biggest killers of kids today. When I was in tractor trailer school I was actually told to drive onto the soft shoulder to learn how to safely handle that sometimes overwhelming experience. I also spent many hours on a skid pad to learn all the particulars of skidding with a forty five foot trailer.
I just feel that today's drivers ed doesn't cut it. No more old crash movies. Take them out and drive off the road onto the soft shoulder. If possible get them some ice time. Knowing all this ahead of time might just save more lives than increasing the number of laws.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Sounds like a good idea.
Your suggestion reminded me of an episode of "Top Gear". They were talking about drivers ed in either Norway or Sweden, and showing how kids have to pass a much more difficult exam, demonstrating skid recovery techniques and whatnot. I think that would be a great idea here.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.It's not just Norway or Sweden.
Most countries in Europe and the UK make kids go through drivers' education that shows up ours for the joke it is. This issue comes up from time to time, but it never goes anywhere. The Right hates it because it would cost more money; the Left hates it because it would require more individual responsibility. Here's where a little real bipartisanship would be valueable.
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