There is a long and angst-filled history of parents helping their teenagers learn to drive.
And because Gov. Jim Edgar signed legislation Aug. 13 sent to him by the General Assembly in May, parents and their teenage road novices will be seeing a lot more of each other behind the dashboard starting in 1998.
The legislation is commonly referred to as graduated driver licensing, providing a graduated system of driving privileges according to age. But one of its effects is to compel parents and their teenagers to spend a lot more time together in cars while the students are learning to drive–25 hours to be exact. Currently there is no such requirement.
The general concept has been pioneered for 15 years by Ray Kracik, chairman of the driver education department at Lake Forest High School and executive secretary of the Illinois High School and College Drivers Education Association.
“I guess you could call Lake Forest High School’s driver education department a pilot program,” said Kracik, who prescribes 40 to 50 hours of togetherness for parents and their student drivers.
“In the late 1970s I made a pitch for parent involvement during a presentation at a national meeting of the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association,” Kracik said. “I may have planted some seeds.
“Driver education teachers across the country have been talking about parental involvement and more practice time for student drivers since the early 1980s,” he added.
State Rep. Corinne Wood (R-Lake Forest), a co-sponsor of the legislation, said that although the Lake Forest program was not the direct inspiration for the new law, it does serve as a good model (the name as published has been corrected in this text).
“I initially became interested because of the high death rate among teenagers. You look at how much more children drive today, it’s all the more important that they drive safely.” She believes that more practice time is mandatory, saying, “You don’t become a lifeguard after jumping in a pool once. They have to have that extra time behind the wheel; that’s the most important part of the bill.”
A thrust of the bill is to put parents in charge of giving children more practice. Bringing these two groups together in driving practice sessions that are productive and don’t end in an argument has been a trend-setting focal point of Lake Forest High School’s driver education department.
Illinois state law requires 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of behind-the-wheel training, which is actual driving time with a qualified instructor.
Driver-education teachers are the first to admit that this isn’t enough time, yet most parents aren’t aware of just how much more practice behind the wheel their child needs beyond formal lessons.
The statistics are sobering. Teenagers make up only 6 percent of all Illinois drivers yet account for 16 percent of the crash fatalities, Secretary of State George H. Ryan said in a speech last December in which he called for creation of the graduated driver licensing system in Illinois. A task force created to study this new system determined that one of the key factors contributing to the high accident rate for young drivers was their lack of driving experience.
“Without a parent’s commitment to practice time with their child, the student won’t progress,” Kracik said. “Lack of time is a common complaint. When both parents are working . . . , it can be especially difficult. And it’s not just the parents. Some of the students are super-involved with sports or other extracurricular activities.”
And parental panic seems epidemic, although it’s not easy for the beginning drivers either. “When we first went out together, I was nervous,” said Betsy Becker, whose daughter Jennifer recently completed Lake Forest’s program. “Jen asked me why I was angry at her and why I was yelling. She said the driver education teachers at school didn’t yell. I told her it was because they had a brake control, and I didn’t.”
The goal in Lake Forest has been for parents and students to calmly hit the road. Fifteen years ago, the high school’s driver-education department held its first parent night in an attempt to beef up parent involvement. The staff was introduced, the curriculum was outlined, and parents were encouraged to ask questions. Part of the evening’s goal was to make sure parents and teachers were giving student drivers a clear and consistent message.
The response was overwhelming, and parents had more questions than the staff anticipated.
This eventually led to a group of 10 parent volunteers sitting down with Kracik and developing a parent handbook that has become an integral part of the school’s driver education program. It prepares parents for their task, provides a chart for logging student practice driving hours and offers suggestions on how to hone skills, such as uphill parking, lane changing and U-turns.
This direct appeal for parent involvement was a key inspiration for Partners in Safety, a new driver education program created by General Learning Communications of Northbrook, a producer of educational materials, and backed by General Motors.
“Ray Kracik and his staff have been on the cutting edge of what should be done. They have a very impressive parental involvement component to their driver education program,” said Julio Abreu, executive vice president of General Learning Communications. The company produces educational materials in both print and video, including In Motion, a guide geared to student drivers and educators.
“We have a relationship with Kracik as a consultant,” Abreu said. “When we have developed new concepts, we have tested them in Lake Forest.
“The No. 1 killer of teens is auto collisions. There is an ongoing problem with drinking, drugs and driving, but a much bigger factor that has often been overlooked is the lack of experience of young drivers,” Abreu said.
After testing the Partners in Safety program in Seattle, Philadelphia and Lake Forest, General Learning Communications sent out Partners in Safety program kits free to more than 13,000 driver education programs across the country by October 1996, according to Abreu.
Partners in Safety includes copies of a 17-minute video, parent/teen booklets and instructor guides. The program encourages high school driver education departments to urge parents to commit to driving practice time with their teens. Parents are advised to be role models and to avoid bringing up subjects that could lead to arguments during practice sessions. Teens are likewise given tips on how to deal with parental anxiety and on how to keep their cool.
“We saw this program and the way General Learning Communications put it together, and we thought this was something we had to do,” said Jay Minotas, manager of General Motors’ safe driving program. “We needed to take leadership in driver education, and this was a good way to get started.”
