Originally driver's education was just to teach kids how to pass a driver's test, now there is a whole new generation of driver's education classes that stress safety and real life practice. The old classes that consisted mostly of safety videos from the 1970s that put students to sleep combined with a few lectures on drinking and driving are gone. In some of those classes students only spent six hours behind the wheel.



But the long decline of driver's education may be ending. Some states, prodded by a growing coalition of public school instructors and safety groups, are rethinking the way teens learn the rules of the road. Driver's education officials are upgrading and standardizing what teens are taught, putting an emphasis on anticipating risky situations.

The marketplace has also jumped in to rapidly fill the empty space. Safe Smart Women, a non-profit group in Silver Spring, MD.,has classes for women drivers in 12 cities. Florida-based New Driver Car Control Clinics located in 10 states has half-day seminars which situate teen drivers and one parent inside an auto while experts radio over directions on how to brake at the car's limit and veer while retaining control. Even the AARP has an 8-hour classroom refresher Driver Safety Program to teach the effects of aging on driving and how you can adjust your driving.

A one-day course, called Street Survival, is intended to give teens the skills to deal with extreme conditions. These sessions are organized by the local BMW Car Club of America and staffed by volunteers, who ride with the teens as they go through maneuvers. Here teens accelerate and slam on the brakes, take curves too fast and make the car skid on a hosed-down parking lot--all to practice regaining control.

These new instructors believe that driving isn't about taking written tests; it's about psycho-motor skills. Classes place teen drivers and one parent inside a car on a motor track, while experts radio over instructions on how to brake at the vehicle's limit and swerve while retaining control. Students learn safe driving techniques and get plenty of behind-the-wheel training.

Drivers Education has a green side too- By training in hybrids, students complete thousands of miles of training but use less fuel and create fewer carbon emissions. More and more programs are using these vehicles with great success. Drivers Ed Direct is a small driver's education firm in Los Angeles that exclusively uses hybrid vehicles; specifically the Ford Escape. The popularity of hybrid vehicles in southern California is one of the keys to Drivers Ed Direct's success.

There is even fun driving class. Comedy Guys Entertainment combining a bunch of professional comedians and a defensive driving school. Approved by Texas Department of Public Safety, instruction is in-class work, done in fine restaurants with meals and refreshments included.

For the time being, numerous car insurance companies charge lower rates for teenage drivers who have had driver's education. That's one important reason to make driver's education an important part of a teen's life.