Over 30 years ago, students were able to take a course on drivers education in schools. In the course, students would be tested on their knowledge of signs, laws, and would even practice driving. This course was a great way for students to be educated on all  rules and regulations of the road. These rules are necessary for a safe environment for drivers and pedestrians. 

The current process to receive a driving permit consists of online courses and then a knowledge test through the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). A lot of the information on the knowledge test is taught in the online drivers education course, however it is now completely up to the student to figure out how to study on their own. 

I have recently gone through the process of getting my drivers permit and am waiting to obtain my license. I can confidently say that in a classroom setting, it would have been so much easier for me to learn the information required to receive my permit. After I completed what seemed like an endless amount of online courses, studied the driver’s handbook, and went to the Poway DMV, I still embarrassingly failed the knowledge test. Thankfully, I passed the second time, but I believe that if I learned this information in a school, I would have absorbed the required knowledge better and a second visit would not have been necessary. In schools, students are more immersed in an environment that is ridden from distractions, so they can focus more on the tasks at hand. Additionally, when students are under the pressure of receiving a good grade they will pay more attention to the material. 

I later came to realize that it wasn’t a rare occurrence for students to fail the drivers knowledge test. In fact, 44% of drivers fail the permit test on the first try. Action needs to be taken in order to lower that percentage because it shows that young drivers are not fully comprehending the material.

So why did schools cut drivers ed? The simple reason is because enrollment had already been declining in high schools that offered driver’s education because many students needed to stack their course load with academic courses that would assist them with the notoriously competitive task of college admissions.

With enrollment declining, the state of California decided to cut the budget for Drivers Education, and eventually phased it out.

Abandoning driver’s education left students to navigate studying for their licenses on their own. However, this has led to even more of an extensive decrease in the number of licensed students. In a 1995 poll, 64% of people under the age of 19 had their license. In 2021, only 40% had their license, and this number continues to decline as in 2023 a report stated that 34.8% of people under the age of 19 have their license.

Another common reason why students aren’t as eager to get their license is because they feel disconnected from the process. 

When I was getting my permit I wasn’t sure when to start taking courses. Neither me nor my parents knew which websites to go to or things to sign up for. The whole process was very confusing and I kept delaying it. I was supposed to be eligible for my license in December but it has since been prolonged to late February.  

Lots of students at Westview and across California will probably give similar answers as to why they’ve been putting off getting their licenses. 

I also find it ironic that California is one of the states that no longer offers driver’s ed, as we notoriously have some of the worst drivers in America. In 2024, California was second only to Texas in the number of fatal car accidents with a whopping 4,000 fatal accidents, and we are only  a little over half way through this year. In addition to this, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers aged 16–24 were involved in 22.8% of all accidents in 2021. This demonstrates that even the young drivers that obtained their licenses are having trouble navigating the roads of California. 

Bringing back driver’s education in schools will not only improve the skill level of drivers in California, making the roads a much safer place, but it will also increase the number of people under the age of 19 with licenses, and it will  bring up the success rate of students passing the knowledge test on the first try.