If You Could Teach Driver Ed, What Would You Want to Cover?

[WichitaRoads]

Okay, I've mentioned this before in another thread, but I'm crazy enough to teach Driver Ed (classroom AND car) each Summer... doing it this month actually.

So, I already know what I'm supposed to teach, and want I LIKE to teach.. been doing it a while. But, here's your chance to get your $.02 in... what things would you want to teach and cover that you think might not be in the typical coursework? What would you want communicated out there new to newbie drivers?

If this is off-topic, please reassign to appropriate location.

ICTRds

[agentsteel53]

"keep right except to pass."

[WichitaRoads]

Cover it, beat it into there heads. Just gotta do that to current drivers.

[sdmichael]

Safe passing and driving around bicyclists is a big one. Telling them not to "wave people" at intersections is another. It is an unsafe practice.

[agentsteel53]

Telling them not to "wave people" at intersections is another. It is an unsafe practice.

by "wave people", you mean attempting to negotiate a 4-way stop through hand gestures?  "crap, from my frame of reference you got here before I did, but from your frame of reference, I got here before you did... and keep in mind that we're in a non-inertial frame of reference due to the Earth's rotation, so ... fuck, physics is hard; let's just hand-wave it."

[DSS5]

We only spent like 10 minutes learning highway skills and it was off-peak traffic when we did. I had to learn merging skills mostly through trial by fire.

[1995hoo]

Off the top of my head....

–"Keep Right Except to Pass"

–Proper use of turn indicators at roundabouts, including use of the left-turn indicator when you're going more than halfway around (the British Highway Code provides an excellent explanation of how to use your signals at a roundabout, though of course you have to invert everything for driving on the other side of the road– https://www.gov.uk/using-the-road-159-to-203/roundabouts-184-to-190 )

–Things that might not be legally "required" but that constitute courtesy and common sense anyway, such as moving over a lane to the left in an interchange when someone's trying to merge onto the highway from the right and leaving adequate space when stopping on an uphill grade in case the person in front of you has a manual shift and rolls back when starting up

–Use of headlights in bad weather because the headlights are as much to help other people see you as they are to help you see

[Brandon]

Things I would teach:

1. Merging skills.  Teach people how to zipper properly with traffic already on a freeway and how to get up to speed on the ramp, not after merging.

2. The proper use of the accelerator pedal.  Teach people how to sue the accelerator pedal to modulate one's speed and to keep one's foot off the brake unless the brake pedal is actually needed.  Also teach people how to use the accelerator pedal to get one out of trouble.  Accelerator good, brake bad.

3. Navigation skills.  Teach them how to interpret signage along the roads to get where they want to go and get over in the proper lane in time.

4. Lane Decorum.  Teach people to keep right unless they are passing, and to pass in a timely manner.

5. Attentiveness.  Teach people to put the fucking phone down and keep their heads up and their wits about them as they drive.

[wxfree]

As it is with most things, my approach would be philosophical, emphasizing ways of thinking as much as specifics.

The road does not belong to you; it belongs to everyone collectively.  You do not have rights superior to those of others.
Driving a car is a task.  It is not a distraction from your conversation or electronics.  Give the task all of your attention.
People die in cars every day.  Every time you get into a car, remember that there's a chance you'll never reach your destination.
We have a societal obligation to obey the laws.  Further, driving benefits from a sense of personal discipline.  Pay attention to and obey stop signs and speed limits (to the extent allowed by the first duty of driving, which is to avoid causing a hazardous condition).
Read every road sign.  Check gauges and mirrors often.  Keep your eyes and mind moving.
Think ahead.  Don't stare at the tail lights in front of you.  Remember that you gain nothing by being the first one to the next red light.  You waste fuel and save no time running up to the next stop sign or red light at full speed.
A car is not a device meant to make you feel powerful and get even with the world or another person.
Approach every situation and conflict looking for the easiest and most peaceful resolution.  Try to grow up past your junior high days, at least when driving.

As for specifics:

There's nothing wrong with going past the street or exit you want and going around the block.  If you're not paying attention, don't make a sudden or disruptive maneuver to make your turn or exit.  If the street's too narrow to make your turn with the car waiting at the stop sign, just go around the block; don't make everyone wait for you to inch through a turn.
Know where you're going, how to get there, and how to recover from a navigational error, before you leave.
Understand your car's warning lights and how to respond to them.
React to understeer skids gradually, and increasingly as needed.  Don't swing the steering wheel; make small adjustments and increase as needed.  Don't correct an understeer condition with an oversteer.

This one isn't really appropriate for driver ed, but young people need to hear it:

Buying a brand new car is almost always a waste of money.  If you have money to waste, that's fine.  If you're 20 years old making payments on a brand new car to drive around town, you made a big mistake.  If you have to make payments on any car for longer than 3 years, you probably can't afford it.

[agentsteel53]

speed limits (to the extent allowed by the first duty of driving, which is to avoid causing a hazardous condition).

I'd tell people "go the speed of traffic". 

speed limit reform is badly, badly needed in the US.  if it is well known, by everybody doing 78, that the enforced speed limit is 80, then why are we not stamping out SPEED LIMIT 80 signs three shifts a day? 

don't be that clown doing precisely 65 - even in the right lane! - causing people to have to pass you, thereby being a source of congestion.

[Brandon]

speed limits (to the extent allowed by the first duty of driving, which is to avoid causing a hazardous condition).

I'd tell people "go the speed of traffic". 

speed limit reform is badly, badly needed in the US.  if it is well known, by everybody doing 78, that the enforced speed limit is 80, then why are we not stamping out SPEED LIMIT 80 signs three shifts a day? 

don't be that clown doing precisely 65 - even in the right lane! - causing people to have to pass you, thereby being a source of congestion.

Jake, much agreed.  I'm sick of self-appointed speed cops on the road who think it is their duty to make everyone obey an absurdly low speed limit on the freeway.

[Dr Frankenstein]

speed limits (to the extent allowed by the first duty of driving, which is to avoid causing a hazardous condition).

I'd tell people "go the speed of traffic". 

speed limit reform is badly, badly needed in the US.  if it is well known, by everybody doing 78, that the enforced speed limit is 80, then why are we not stamping out SPEED LIMIT 80 signs three shifts a day? 

don't be that clown doing precisely 65 - even in the right lane! - causing people to have to pass you, thereby being a source of congestion.

Even more needed in Canada. (100 km/h / ± 60 mph in almost all provinces)

The "keep right except to pass" and "turn on headlights when it rains" stuff is already in the books. Perhaps not emphasized enough, but it's still there.

The roadgeek in me would spend at least an hour, ideally half a day or more, covering the basic highway geography in the area, obviously starting with the freeways. Then teach them how to read maps and how to use a GPS properly. Navigation is an important part of driving, and is severely neglected in driver's ed.

I'd hand out free state/province maps at the end.

[agentsteel53]

I would generalize the instruction to "do not be a source of congestion". 

[wxfree]

speed limits (to the extent allowed by the first duty of driving, which is to avoid causing a hazardous condition).

I'd tell people "go the speed of traffic". 

speed limit reform is badly, badly needed in the US.  if it is well known, by everybody doing 78, that the enforced speed limit is 80, then why are we not stamping out SPEED LIMIT 80 signs three shifts a day? 

don't be that clown doing precisely 65 - even in the right lane! - causing people to have to pass you, thereby being a source of congestion.

I added the parenthetical note due to the absurd speed limits in many places.  I think Texas has the right idea with 75 mph speed limits on most freeways and many two-lane roads.  Still, there are urban freeways with lower limits where driving at legal speeds will cause a line of constant passing traffic.  That's a hazardous condition, so I'll either go fast enough to prevent it or exit and use other roads.

My rule is meant to express a principle, but also be adaptable to different situations.  When driving in traffic, you should keep up with the common speed.  My thoughts are based on my highway experience, most of which is on roads with speed limits of 75 and sometimes 80, but where you could ride a bicycle in the middle of the lane and not cause much disruption.  I believe a sense of discipline is important.  On long lonely roads, I think you should have the discipline to hold a reasonable speed, and not try for warp speed just because there's no one in front slowing you down.

[Brandon]

speed limits (to the extent allowed by the first duty of driving, which is to avoid causing a hazardous condition).

I'd tell people "go the speed of traffic". 

speed limit reform is badly, badly needed in the US.  if it is well known, by everybody doing 78, that the enforced speed limit is 80, then why are we not stamping out SPEED LIMIT 80 signs three shifts a day? 

don't be that clown doing precisely 65 - even in the right lane! - causing people to have to pass you, thereby being a source of congestion.

Even more needed in Canada. (100 km/h / ± 60 mph in almost all provinces)

The "keep right except to pass" and "turn on headlights when it rains" stuff is already in the books. Perhaps not emphasized enough, but it's still there.

The roadgeek in me would spend at least an hour, ideally half a day or more, covering the basic highway geography in the area, obviously starting with the freeways. Then teach them how to read maps and how to use a GPS properly. Navigation is an important part of driving, and is severely neglected in driver's ed.

I'd hand out free state/province maps at the end.

Navigation skills is one of the biggest areas, if not the biggest area that drivers' education is sorely lacking.  Far too much time was spent on seat belts (OK, we wear them anyway, big flipping deal), accidents (the goal, IMHO, is avoidance), and drunk driving (big flipping yawn, under 16, not supposed to drink regardless) than on navigation.  Yet, the biggest problem I see on the roads is a complete and total lack of navigational skills by the typical driver.  I have seen more close calls caused by a severe lack of navigational skills when people make last minute decisions to take an exit ramp on the other side of the freeway, enter a turn lane late (or turn from the wrong lane), or simply get lost and not pay any attention to where they are going.

[Brian556]

This is an excellent topic. I wish I could teach drivers ed because I think that I could do it better than the current system.

This biggest change would be road/situational based education. This means students would be taught how to drive on each type of road, and each type of intersection, and what to lookout for in each situation. Students would be taught to decipher the type of roadway thay are intersecting, so they know what to do. For example, when pulling out of a driveway, look to see if the road is divided or two way, since there are often no regulatory signs.

Work zones and standard work zone setups would be included in this.

Also, concepts such as being in the correct lane at a double turn if your going to turn again just past the first turn. Also, avoiding left turn onto thoughrofares at unsignalized intersections by exiting parking lots onto side streets where there is a signal.

How to drive in parking lots would be important. People often think that parking lots are more safe than streets whwn in fact accidents are far more likely there. i would teach driving down the middle of aisles when no oncoming traffic is present to give backing vehicles more buffer space since they cannot see, and teach people to park where they don't have to back into the busy "road" in the parking lot that goes in front of the store.

How to use a/c /heater to prevent windshield fogging.

The fact that different vehicle types handle differntly. A car basically much less likelyto lose traction on wet pavement, while a pickup will very easily.

[J N Winkler]

I agree hazard perception skills are important and there is more that can be done to teach them in terms of book learning--AAA's Sportsmanlike Driving (which was used in my driver education class more than 20 years ago) doesn't quite cut it.  I'd suggest Roadcraft, but it is oriented for UK drivers, so the illustrations and text descriptions assume typical British roadscapes with TSRGD-compliant signing and there would need to be literally dozens of pages of glosses to cover the equivalent cases in the US.

As to other useful texts for a driver education class:

*  The current MUTCD and any state-level traffic design policy documents which may apply (e.g., state MUTCD supplement, state sign drawings book, etc.), as well as an assortment of past MUTCD editions and traffic documents in states like California which have a large overhang of signing done to obsolete standards

*  Any recent-ish edition of the AASHTO Green Book

*  Any edition of the Highway Capacity Manual from 1965 onward

Some other curriculum elements I would like to see included:

*  Basic workings of route numbering systems (distinction between odd and even US and Interstate numbers, number progression in both systems, types of numbering schemes used for state routes in various states, how to differentiate between primary and secondary routes in states which have two-tier state highway networks, etc.)

*  Transport geography 101:  A short description of functional classification, the level-of-service concept, how they interact given the road network extent and population of a given area, and what this means for drivers in terms of route selection

*  An explanation of the doctrine of sovereign immunity and how it applies to a highway agency's improvement and maintenance activities (underlying message:  don't drive in a way that leaves you exposed if the agency fails to meet expectations formed on the basis of published standards or usual practice.  A classic example of this is running off the road in the middle of a curve because the curve warning sign lacks an advisory speed plate)

*  Basic principles of defensive driving (be alert to the unexpected, both from the roadway and from other users; always leave yourself an out; always seek to maximize visibility; always choose a speed and direction that is consistent with your forward visibility; never gratuitously inconvenience other drivers, but also never allow yourself to be bullied into carrying out maneuvers when you are not satisfied that they are safe)

*  Mapping:  what it is for, how to get it, how to evaluate its reliability, how to use it, how it relates to other sources of geospatial information such as guide signs

*  The distinction between what is legal and what is considered best practice (for example, cell phone usage is still legal in most US states with the exception of texting, but it is best practice never to use either a handheld or hands-free cell phone when driving)

For extra credit:

*  How to read the physical culture of the highway (if you have this skill, you will never be bored, even on a flat road in a radio dead zone)

[Zeffy]

Teaching students the importance of turn signals. I can't say how many times I've seen people cut me off at the last second and not use the signal. Not only does it piss everyone else off, it's incredibly hazardous. Especially on highways / freeways.

[Billy F 1988]

I can't tell you how mad I get when people tailgate me when I drive the specific school zones. Where I'm at, there's a 25 MPH school zone within a 35 MPH zone along South Russell Street. God, that pisses me off when people do that.

[KEK Inc.]

Flow of traffic and traffic impediment laws.   It's unsafe to be more than 10 above or below the flow of traffic, even if the flow of traffic is 20 above the posted speed limit.  Unfortunately, cops vary enforcement by region, and some cops care about the letter of the law, while others care about safety.  It's sort of a gamble, and theoretically, you can get pulled over at any speed unless the flow is actually at or below the speed limit.

[nexus73]

How to identify boobytraps.  Every place has some just waiting to ensnare the unwary or careless.  Being able to identify hazards rates as the top priority in my book for driver's ed.  Driving a car is easy.  Driving it safely is not!

Rick

[US81]

speed limits (to the extent allowed by the first duty of driving, which is to avoid causing a hazardous condition).

I'd tell people "go the speed of traffic". 

speed limit reform is badly, badly needed in the US.  if it is well known, by everybody doing 78, that the enforced speed limit is 80, then why are we not stamping out SPEED LIMIT 80 signs three shifts a day? 

don't be that clown doing precisely 65 - even in the right lane! - causing people to have to pass you, thereby being a source of congestion.

Jake, much agreed.  I'm sick of self-appointed speed cops on the road who think it is their duty to make everyone obey an absurdly low speed limit on the freeway.

I agree in principle, but every speeding infraction I've ever gotten has been going with the traffic flow. I'm tired of being subject to the fines and penalties when I'm actually reducing the hazard.

[Revive 755]

*An introduction to left turn phasing, such as yield on green ball, flashing yellow arrows, lead/lag and twice per cycle lefts, yellow traps, and the nasty habit of some signals to severely reduce the amount of time the left turn arrow gets if the pedestrian phase gets called up on the cross street so that only one car will make it through on a green arrow.

* An introduction to U-turns, with an emphasis on the fact that a U-turn on a green left turn arrow may put one in conflict with a right turner who also has a green arrow.

* Merging, with coverage of forced merges/inside lane merges.

* Lane control signals/reversible lanes - even though these are rare, there should still be coverage of them in case one does travel to a state like Kentucky that uses them.

* New ideas in roadway geometry such as CFI's, DDI's and Michigan lefts.

[mgk920]

I agree with 'slower traffic keep right' and the turn signal thing, but I would also put more emphasis on the priority rules at intersections (ie, who goes first in the various situations).  I prefer the European term 'priority' to 'right of way', BTW, as I consider it to be clearer and without other meanings that could be confusing.

Also teach them to pay attention to someone signalling a turn as they approach an intersection that they are stopped at to make sure that that vehicle is actually going to make its turn at that intersection before they go - he or she MAY be planning to turn into that driveway that is just past the intersection (I've almost broadsided others on several occasions because of this).



Mike

[vdeane]

* An introduction to U-turns, with an emphasis on the fact that a U-turn on a green left turn arrow may put one in conflict with a right turner who also has a green arrow.

Might also want to mention that they're illegal in many jurisdictions.  Making a U turn in NY when the intersection doesn't explicitly say they're allowed is a good way to get a ticket.