(Plain) Mennonite driving habits

[steve-in-kville]

When a certain Mennonite High School left out, many of the people in the area, complained about the teenagers engaging in "cowboy" style driving and speeding.

And what, pray tell, is "cowboy" style driving?

[RZehr]

Ford Mustangs and Broncos?

[Heirbyadoption]

I had Driver's Ed when I was 15 and I think it should be mandatory.

I suppose I'm showing my ignorance, but are there some states that don't require Driver's Ed before letting people drive initially (other than farm-related equipment/vehicles)?

[RZehr]

I had Driver's Ed when I was 15 and I think it should be mandatory.

I suppose I'm showing my ignorance, but are there some states that don't require Driver's Ed before letting people drive initially (other than farm-related equipment/vehicles)?

Here in Oregon Drivers Ed is not required. A 15 year old has to drive with an adult for 100 hours, then they can get get their drivers license at 16 years old.
But if the 15 year old does opt to take Drivers Ed, they do not need to have the 100 hours of driving experience in order to get their drivers license at 16 years old.

But Oregon now requires Drivers School in order to get a Commercial Drivers License. This cost $3-5 thousand dollars. In the past, you just got your permit, then if you could pass the CDL tests, you could get a CDL.

[Biblical Anabaptist]

I had Driver's Ed when I was 15 and I think it should be mandatory.

I suppose I'm showing my ignorance, but are there some states that don't require Driver's Ed before letting people drive initially (other than farm-related equipment/vehicles)?

My grandson in MS recently got his license. I don't think he had driver's ed. When he went for his license, instead of taking a road test, he only needed to provide a notarized letter by one of his parents that he is a responsible driver.

[Grace]

When a certain Mennonite High School left out, many of the people in the area, complained about the teenagers engaging in "cowboy" style driving and speeding.

And what, pray tell, is "cowboy" style driving?

When you drive like an out of control cowboy.

Maybe a better term would be, “when school left out, the teenagers drove like Jehu”. In 2 Kings 9:20, it talks about Jehu, who drove his chariot "furiously". Other versions say Jehu drove his chariot like a “madman”.

[Ken]

I had Driver's Ed when I was 15 and I think it should be mandatory.

I suppose I'm showing my ignorance, but are there some states that don't require Driver's Ed before letting people drive initially (other than farm-related equipment/vehicles)?

In both Texas and Washington where I have taught my various daughters to drive you must either do regular Drivers Ed or self-taught Driver's Ed.

If you go the self-taught route you can teach your own kids to drive, but you have to log that they do so many hours in different settings (night, day, freeway, city streets, etc. and they have a printed curriculum you are supposed to cover.

I always just paid for them to go to regular drivers ed. Around here is is mostly or entirely off-duty or retired cops doing the instruction and they are no-nonsense. So it is kind of a rite of passage that all teens have go to through! I figure it is good for them to learn from someone else as well as just me. I probably have some bad habits they don't need to learn. They are going to be in the car with me doing their learners permit anyway outside of regular class and have various things they are supposed to practice each week.

Here in WA the driving schools are authorized by the state to do the written and road tests. So at the end of the course my daughter just took the road test from one of the instructors and the written test online at the driving school and her scores were uploaded to the DMV. So all she had to do when going to the actual DMV is just get her picture taken. They already had all the rest of her information in their computers.

[Josh]

I had Driver's Ed when I was 15 and I think it should be mandatory.

I suppose I'm showing my ignorance, but are there some states that don't require Driver's Ed before letting people drive initially (other than farm-related equipment/vehicles)?

I'm not actually aware of any left that don't. Driver's Ed has been required here for 16 year olds for at least 30 years.

Of course, mandatory driver's ed has not been correlated to a decrease in accidents or otherwise any improvements. Many U.S. states have gone to graduated driver licences as well and despite that, accidents, fatalities, etc. keep getting worse and worse.

[Ken]

Of course, mandatory driver's ed has not been correlated to a decrease in accidents or otherwise any improvements. Many U.S. states have gone to graduated driver licences as well and despite that, accidents, fatalities, etc. keep getting worse and worse.

That's not actually true. There was far more highway carnage in the past on a per-capita or per-mile driven basis. How much of that is due to safer cars versus drivers ed? Who knows.



And here is the same data annotated

[ken_sylvania]

Of course, mandatory driver's ed has not been correlated to a decrease in accidents or otherwise any improvements. Many U.S. states have gone to graduated driver licences as well and despite that, accidents, fatalities, etc. keep getting worse and worse.

That's not actually true. There was far more highway carnage in the past on a per-capita or per-mile driven basis. How much of that is due to safer cars versus drivers ed? Who knows.

Here's another visual that is just as relevant as that graph: