The Novice Driver |
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Teenage Hotrodders #21
December 1966
I have been taking a look at some of the automobile legislation in my home state and in other areas. Put briefly, I would say that the purpose of most of these laws is to try to give us better drivers on the highways and thus reduce the mortality and accident rate. Thus, new drivers and those who have forfeited their licenses will have to pass a six month probation period in order to qualify for a regular license over a three year period.
Evidently we have two different groups of drivers lumped together under one heading. Our Commissioner of Motor Vehicles stated that the purpose of this legislation was to encourage new drivers to form good driving habits "which will be reflected in later driving years." So we better take a closer look at the new driver group.
Now exactly how does a new driver form a good driving habit? Well, in the first place he has to know what a good driving technique is under a given situation. And then he has to repeat this technique so that it becomes automatic. That is how any habit is psychologically formed. Driving a car in today's modern traffic-on our city streets, on the high speed toll roads, or on the country roads presents a variety of problems. Now add weather conditions to this and the new motorist-or novice-does have a lot to learn.
But from whom is he to learn it? Near my home there is an area where a lot of people learn to drive. Fathers take out their sons; mothers take out their daughters; and the husband takes out his wife. But just what is being taught? I submit that what the learner behind the wheel is learning in most cases is just how to be certain to pass the road test in order to get the license. And what does the road test consist of in most cases? He has to start his car and leave the curb properly; show he can use his signs correctly; make a left turn and a right; make a U-turn and a broken U-turn; and park properly. Add to this an eye test and a written examination to show knowledge of the most important automobile regulations-and we have a new driver on the highway.
But where and how is this newly licensed driver to learn the many other things he wasn't taught by his father or uncle? He may know nothing about the three principal kinds of road surfaces on curves and how they can affect the potentiality for an accident. Or he may get all upset the first time he gets into a six lane street. Or he may not even know about the danger of an oil slick on the road. Now what are we going to do about all of this?
The time has come to take the teaching of an automobile driver away from friends and relatives. And put it into the hands of trained licensed experts. Drivers' Education over a period of time, in the class room with textbooks and mock-ups of cars and then on the road under many conditions is an absolute necessity in this motor age. And that in turn means a different type of test for the driver's license. In fact it may take a period of several days so that the person behind the wheel can demonstrate ability to handle safety under different conditions.
As I have said before-the first time a driver gets into a skid can be a terrifying experience-or even a disastrous one. How does he build up the correct habit to handle this situation? Now we get into the tough psychological phase concerning a new driver. He or she may know what to do-but doesn't do it! Under the new regulation if a motorist commits any two moving violations during the probation period, he will lose his right to drive. And will have to wait 60 days before reapplying and take the tests all over again.
A driver's license is a privilege and not a right. There are people who are psychologically unfit to be behind the wheel in spite of the fact that they know legally what to do with the car-but just don't do it. As has been well said: Unless you bar this kind of a driver, you are in effect giving him a license to destroy, maim and kill." Just bear in mind that the innocent driver or pedestrian has the better right to remain intact as against the desire of this psychologically unfit driver to get behind a wheel.
We are getting more and more cars on our highways and we certainly have to be more rigid in the way we prepare and examine our new drivers. A probationary driving period is a good idea provided it is built upon sound and solid ideas.