I was a high school teacher for 20 years, so I had a front-row seat as trends shifted in K12 education. I watched as general college prep curriculum gave way to science, technology, engineering and math—STEM—and Career Technical Education, with its focus on hands-on, certificate-based learning.

Now these are fine programs. However, because there are only so many hours in the school day and so much funding to go around, other courses, sadly, have been replaced. You’ve probably read about the disappearing classes in music, drama, art, and physical education. Sad, yes, but these losses don’t generally affect most of us day-to-day. There is, however, one course that’s disappeared that has a major impact on all of us: driving class!

I remember learning to drive at school, an actual class with a simulation program and a teacher who braved the roads with kids who sometimes didn’t know a gas pedal from a gas tank. I was told that if I didn’t pass drivers education, I wouldn’t graduate. But none of us argued because we all wanted to pass. A drivers license was a ticket to freedom.

Today, however, many young people eschew getting a drivers license. Some say they are happy to rely on ride sharing, others believe driving is too stressful. I’m guessing the latter has to do with being uncomfortable behind the wheel, because they’ve never learned to control a vehicle properly. Without a certified instructor, young people are forced to drive with Dad, or an older sibling, or some other random adult, people often not prepared to tutor someone in the delicate art of driving.

Of course the outcome of learning driving skills freeform is that many people don’t know how to drive properly. You know who they are. Those who think a red light is just a suggestion. People who are seemingly unaware that there’s a device called a directional signal. Others who have no idea what those lines on the road mean. And the many who believe that they are perfectly capable of playing a videogame and eating a Big Mac while behind the wheel.

Here’s the thing. If you don’t want to learn to drive, that’s fine, as long as you can get where you want to be without coercing others to help out. And those who want to drive need to take a proper course, because when you get in the driver’s seat without the appropriate training, bad things can occur.

Note that some of the main causes of accidents are distracted driving, speeding, red-light running, and impaired driving, which means that approximately 80% of traffic accidents are said to be avoidable and preventable and are caused by human error. Approximately 46,000 people in the U.S. die annually in traffic accidents and over one-and-a-half million suffer injuries, some of whom wind up with life-long disabilities.

I know we can do better, even if we can’t get high schools to put drivers education back in the curriculum. It’s time we took driving seriously, because our lives literally depend on it.

Careful out there!

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