Graduated Driver Licensing: Smoke and Mirrors
Way back in the 1970s, statistical studies began revealing that high school driver education was, at best, worthless. Way back in the 1970s, driver education began reacting to those findings. The result is Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL).
Will Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) improve the actual, behind-the-wheel performance of young drivers, or will it merely give them a better statistical profile?
Experience Alone Cannot Cure Driver Education’s Inadequacy
Traditional high school driver education has failed. That is not a debatable point. It is fact. For decades, studies have shown no difference between the group driving records of young novice drivers who have successfully completed driver ed. and those who have never taken the course.
The people in charge of traditional driver education maintain that teenagers drive so badly because they lack experience behind the wheel. The remedy they suggest is graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) which mandates that teens have years of experience before they can obtain full driving privileges.
Will Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) improve the actual, behind-the-wheel performance of young drivers, or will it merely give them a better statistical profile?