Aug 28 2008
It’s Not the Government’s Job: Example #104,946
North Carolina will spend $33 million this school year on a generations-old rite of passage: driver’s education. But there is little evidence that the program’s 30 hours in the classroom and six behind the wheel help young people avoid crashes.
“There’s a pretty widespread belief that this is an antiquated system,” said UNC-Chapel Hill professor Rob Foss, an adviser to state government on highway safety.
Why the hell is this a government function? When I learned how to drive, I started with my father teaching me. After he ran out of sedatives and tranquilizers, he handed me off to a private driving school that taught me just fine, thank you very much. The only time I ever dealt with the government was waiting in line for 3 f–in’ hours at the DMV for my learner’s permit and when I took the road test- which I passed on the very first try (it took my dad two tries!).
It’s not the government’s job to send you to driving school- especially when there are private companies out there that can do it just as well.
Attempts to remake driver’s ed could bring a clash in the legislature. Between employees paid to teach more than 100,000 students per year and lobbying support for keeping the system in place, an overhaul is unlikely to arrive smoothly.
“There are a number of other states that have cut their programs and are regretting it,” said Connie Sessoms, driver-education specialist for Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.
Freakin’ great. A bunch of government employees whining to protect jobs that the private sector can do just as well. If I were a state legislator, I’d try to put the whole thing on the chopping block.
