A Privilege to Drive

The road is filled with inexperienced drivers, but is it the fault of the person behind the wheel, or does it go back to a lack of proper training? Unfortunately, there are driving instructors and parents who are teaching teens to just pass the test rather than being an experienced and safe driver. Although many parents worry about teens speeding, drinking and driving, and texting or talking on a cell phone while driving; they can’t wait to give up their chauffeuring duties. How many really absorb the fact that they are freely handing over the keys to a deadly 3,500-pound weapon without requiring the teen to know how to completely handle that weapon under all conditions?

Do you remember turning 16? Were you like most teens – counting the days until you got your driver’s license? One simple test and you were on your way to freedom. Did you ever stop to consider driving a serious responsibility?

There are mandatory driver-education classes, some behind-the-wheel time, and some supervised driving with an adult and/or a driving instructor. Once you’ve met those requirements, in most states you can walk into the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) office and pass a simple written test and take the road test. Although the road test portion of obtaining a driver’s test may vary in some states, generally it entails:

• Starting and stopping a vehicle
• Changing lanes
• Making left and right turns
• Maintaining proper distance
• Adapting to various road speeds
• Driving on different types of roads
• Parallel parking

Does passing these criteria make for skilled and proficient drivers? What about driving in inclement weather, during rush hour traffic or construction zone? How many people do you know took the road test at night, in a thunderstorm, a snowstorm, or ice storm? Yet, after passing the test usually on dry surfaces, you are considered qualified to drive under any conditions. Many young drivers were never exposed to these conditions in driver’s education and few had enough experience under parental supervision. Shouldn’t parents demand that their teens develop skills beyond the current road tests? Shouldn’t teens prove they can control a vehicle in any situation?

It isn’t enough to implement laws preventing drivers from talking on cell phones or texting while driving. Isn’t it time the change to requirements for obtaining a driver’s license? What about the fact that once someone obtains a driver’s license, it is theirs for life? It is perfectly legal for a 90-year-old man to get behind the wheel even if he has not driven in five years. Are the DMV requirements an injustice to all drivers? Should there be tougher licensing procedures to protect us all? What do you think; should a driver’s license be harder to acquire? Isn’t it time we focus on the cause rather than the effect of the problem? We need to produce better drivers. Making our roads safer is that plain and simple.

Mark Bello has thirty-three years experience as a trial lawyer and twelve years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the lawsuit funding industry. He is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation which helps provide legal finance cash flow solutions and consulting when necessities of life litigation funding is needed by plaintiffs involved in pending, personal injury litigation. Bello is a Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Association for Justice, Business Associate of the Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado Associations for Justice, a member of the American Bar Association as well as their ABA Advisory Committee, the State Bar of Michigan and the Injury Board.