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You clapped as the training wheels came off.
And made sure to catch them before they could fall.
But now they’ve reached a transportation milestone you have possibly been dreading, rather than celebrating.
Your 15- or 16-year-old is asking for the keys to operate a 3,000-pound motor vehicle in traffic with other people, possibly on Hwy. 16, Losey Boulevard or Lang Drive during rush hour.
Just the thought makes your heart sink and your stomach knot.
When your teenager mentions the words “drivers ed,” you quickly change the subject and begin to freak out in your own calm, collective parental way.
And for good reason.
Traffic crashes are the No. 1 cause of death among children and young adults, killing more than 3,800 drivers ages 15 to
20 every year and injuring more than 326,000, according to the National Safety Council.
Although young drivers represent only 6.6 percent of the nation’s licensed drivers, they are involved in 14.8 percent of fatal crashes, the NSC said.
In Wisconsin, teen drivers are required to spend 30 hours behind the wheel before getting their license.
But that’s just the minimum.
John Ulczycki, NSC director of transportation safety, questions how many parents have spent 50 hours in a car with their child behind the wheel.
Or been a passenger for
10 hours of nighttime driving.
Or even ridden with them in bad weather.
“I have teen drivers, and when it rains, I say, ‘We’re going driving,’” Ulczycki said.
Too many parents allow their children to drive without knowing how well they do at night and in various traffic situations, he said.
They also give in too easy when asked to use the car, he said.
“If a parent has a gun in the house, I would guess in nearly
100 percent of the cases it is locked and the keys are hidden,” Ulczycki said.
“I wonder how many parents of teenagers treat their car keys the same way,” he said.
“There are many cases where teens grab keys late at night and get in fatal car crashes and parents wonder why.”
As a convenience, parents often unknowingly tradeoff their kids’ safety, Ulczycki said.
The NSC is trying to get parents to understand how they handle their vehicle really does matter, Ulczycki said.
As a parent, local driver education instructors say there are ways you can help your children become safer on the road, and some start sooner than later.
Adults need to lead by example for their kids from the time the children are 5 or 6 years old, said Dewey Severson, retired Minnesota State Trooper who is affiliated with the Minnesota Safety Council and continues to teach driver-safety courses in southeastern Minnesota.
“They can’t be sitting back and watching Mom and Dad drink and drive or speed or not wear their seat belt. Parents need to set a good example,” Severson said.
In the Western Wisconsin Technical College cars, students are taught a technique called IPDE, where they identify traffic hazards, predict what the hazard will do to their driving, decide a course of action and execute it, said Roger Voss, WWTC traffic safety coordinator who taught drivers ed at Central High School from 1968 to 1999.
“The process keeps them looking down the road,” Voss said.
Turning, stopping and making sure the teen is checking over their shoulder are crucial points, said Fred Stair, owner of the F C Stair School of Driving Inc., located at 1100 Kane St.
“Kids are good at checking their mirrors, but they have to turn and look,” Stair said, adding even adults forget to turn.
Don Zimmerman, owner of Zimmerman’s Driving School, recognizes a lot of parents are apprehensive of taking first time drivers out.
They haven’t been trained, and there is no break on the passenger’s side.
Zimmerman recommends beginning in a large parking lot with the basics.
Start the car. Apply the break.
“Build confidence in the son or daughter (and parent too), then go on to some not so busy residential streets and practice left and right turns with hand over hand turning. Slowly build,” Zimmerman said.
From there work on and reinforce what is being taught in their drivers education course, Zimmerman said.
By parents reinforcing the lesson, Voss said, young drivers are able to practice important skills on a more regular basis.
Just driving to the grocery story doesn’t necessarily reinforce what’s being taught in the classroom, Voss said.
Kids need to be taken to the country, on the interstate, on Hwy. 16, to the mall parking lot and downtown, Voss said.
In addition to good driving skills, the instructors said a good attitude also makes a good driver.
ALIVE AT 25Alive at 25 is a driver-safety program for young drivers.
Taught by retired Minnesota state trooper Dewey Severson, participants learn about seat belts, staying away from drinking and driving, responsible driving conduct and being responsible for their activities.
The program is an offshoot of an adult program and is available to those younger than 25 living in the Coulee Region. Severson said he has been teaching the class for about a year.
The next class will be
March 28 in La Crescent, Minn. For more information or to
register, call (507) 895-5150.
Autumn Grooms can be reached at (608) 791-8424, or
agrooms@lacrossetribune.com.
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Driver's "training" starts when. . . wrote on Aug 31, 2007 4:44 PM: