By News Wire Services
May 18, 2002

Driver's ed isn't crash-proof

More bad news for the parents of teen-age drivers: Don't count on a driver's ed program to dramatically improve your child's driving ability. All the studies appear to show no difference in driver reliability or crash involvement between youngsters who've taken a driver's education class and those who haven't. In fact, a 1999 study indicated that driver's ed might actually encourage teen-age auto accidents, since such classes typically allow young drivers to gain unrestricted licenses sooner. And the sooner they drive, the more they drive, and the more often they drive at night, the more likely they are to get into a crash, the studies conclude.

Source: I Promise Program, a Canadian teen-age safe-driving initiative

Contact:

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, Executive Director
I Promise Program
20 Suter Crescent,
Dundas, Ontario, Canada
L9H 6R5

(905) 628-4847
gary123@sympatico.ca
www.ipromiseprogram.com