Should State Driving Tests Be More Challenging?
Automobile accidents are inevitable for anyone and everyone who drives a car. It does not only necessarily depends on an individual’s driving skill, but also the driving skill of all motorists. Multiple factors are involved as to why there are so many accidents in the United States, but the most common seems to be driver error, primarily seen in the younger aged motorist group. In order to ensure better drivers across the country, the state driving tests should be more challenging by including various tests such as hydroplaning, decision-making in tight situations, and others. This is due to many accidents being caused from drivers not being able to make decisions quickly enough, or in some situations making the wrong decision, as well as drivers simply not having the skill to control their automobile in certain inclement weather situations.
First off, the question that is constantly asked when speaking of automobile accidents: Is 16 years of age too young for an individual to begin driving? When looking at overall crash statistics, the answer seems to be yes, but when analyzed further, that answer is not necessarily true. Young drivers are categorized as inexperienced drivers, which is true, but there are many young drivers in the 16 to 18 year old range who are in significantly less crashes than their older peers, due to being better skilled drivers. This is contributed to Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL), which is a program that teaches drivers advanced driving skills, and is aimed at lowering crash rates in young drivers, specifically ages 16-18. According to the Journal of Safety Research, using the GDL program for drivers ages 16-18 produced “a significant reduction in the crash rate of 16 and 17 year old drivers”, and “was observed due to the GDL implementation” (David M. Neyens). This means that through teaching advanced driving skills to the young drivers, the crash statistics decreased significantly, showing that the program is effective.
The next argument is whether or not young drivers, typically around the age of 16, are mentally mature enough to drive at such a young age. The American Journal of Public Health states that in a study period while tracking adolescent accident rates and their parents’ accident rates, “adolescents were involved in 279 crashes… parents had 34 such accidents” (Marie Ouimet). Many would look at these statistics and say that adolescents are too immature mentally to drive at the age of 16. It is true, that adolescents have proven to be mentally less mature than adults, as shown in multiple psychological studies throughout history. The accidents in this particular study were focused primarily on the decision-making aspect of accidents. In other words, the adolescent drivers made more bad decisions than their parents. The errors in judgement include excessive acceleration, high-speed cornering, and hard braking. This is supported by the study, which stated that learning basic driving skills like maneuverability takes only a few hours, but learning judgement skills in driving takes many years.
Inclement weather has forever been a culprit of automobile accidents, and will continue to be. Whether it is rain, wind, snow, or ice, these special conditions of the road will always pose a threat towards motorists. The only way to combat this is to prepare the motorists for such conditions before they are in those conditions in real life. Take hydroplaning for example, this is when water sitting on the road separates the tire from the road taking away all grip from that tire. In typical situations, an inexperienced driver who has never experienced this situation would likely panic and do what humans naturally do while panicked in cars: turn the wheel the opposite way. This, of course, does not work and only makes the situation worse, which is why it is so crucial that motorists learn how to drive in inclement conditions. If state driving tests included tests such as controlled hydroplaning, then more motorists would know how to correct their car sliding and the accident rate would go down.
It is the same with all situations. If the state driving tests were more challenging and included certain tests that force the motorist to use driving skill and require them to think through the challenges, then the accident rates across the country would plummet, as shown with the study of GDLs. When motorists are prepared mentally and physically for any driving situation through proper training, less road catastrophes would occur and the roads would be a safer place for all motorists.
Works Cited
Marie Ouimet, Zhiwei Zhang, Sheila Klauer, et al. "Crash and Risky Driving Involvement Among Novice Adolescent Drivers and Their Parents." American Journal of Public Health. Ebsco Host, Dec 2011. Web. 29 Oct 2013.
David M. Neyens, Birsen Donmez, Linda Ng Boyle. “The Iowa Graduated Driver Licensing Program: Effectiveness in Reducing Crashes of Teenage Drivers.” Journal of Safety Research. Ebsco Host, Sep 2008. Web. 29 Oct 2013.
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