Students in high school look forward to getting their permit and driver’s license, but some parents don’t want their kid to just hop behind the wheel. They want some genuine education in place for their teens. This is where Driver’s Education comes in.
“It’s very helpful to get information about what exactly is going to be on the driver exam,” Driver’s Ed instructor Eugene St. Clair said.
The Driver’s Education program is offered by Community Education, which is sponsored by the Mehlville School District. The class features three hours of behind-the-wheel instruction and 30 hours of classroom instruction. The class runs for three hours Monday through Thursday for three weeks. A session is currently being held and classes are at the Wintzel Learning Center on Mehlville High School’s campus. Having this program helps many students become better-prepared drivers and allows them time to get the experience they need if they can’t get it somewhere else.
“Many parents do not want to be in the vehicle with a teenager,” St. Clair said.
Parents anxiety for having their children behind the wheel with them in the car is valid. The crash rate for teenagers is over three times higher than that of adults according to the CDC. This is why most states require teens to take a Driver’s Ed course before they are able to obtain a driver’s license. Missouri is in the minority group of not requiring it, along with 13 other states.
A bill introduced to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2022 (HB 1516) would have made Driver’s Ed mandatory, but it, along with two similar bills, got stuck in legislation. Such bills have not seen any movement in recent years and it is unlikely that it will change. However, if such a bill did pass, programs such as Mehlville’s Driver’s Ed would see more funding.
“We would use it for buying new simulators, because ours are just absolutely obsolete and are totally worthless,” St. Clair said.
St. Clair spends most of his time in the vehicle with students ‘unsimulating’ them because of how unlike current cars the simulators are.
The simulators that find their homes at Mehlville are from the 1980s, making them old and out of date. It is a driver seat set up with multiple around the room, including one handicap model for students who are not able to maneuver a typical driver setup. The students operate their vehicle and watch a video in the front of the room and at the end of the simulation they are able to see their grade for how well they operated their simulated car.
While many students enroll in this program, some feel uncomfortable or mandated to take this class, feeling as though three hours is too long for the class. Freshman Gavin Berberich feels as though there isn’t enough material to fill the period.
“I’d say total of an hour [we just spend sitting there]. It is just kind of awkward,” Berberich said.
The class makes up for awkward downtime with driving time. Students will learn everything they need to pass the driver’s exam and more, spending time on roads of all kinds. Students will drive in parking lots, neighborhoods, rural settings and interstates.
Whether or not they are forced to take the class by their parents or they choose to take it own their own, many teens in the program end up being happy with what they learn in the class and feel that it puts them ahead of their peers for the test. So while taking Driver’s Education may be a class that many aren’t initially excited about taking, overall it may help them in the long run by helping them pass their driving test on the first try.
