Is driver's ed due for an update?

Learning to drive is an American rite of passage, and, you might say, so is getting in your first accident. Preventing that first crash from ever happening is a key goal of safety experts alarmed by an increase in automotive fatalities.

But what's the best way to teach safe driving and prevent that first crash?

To find out how new drivers felt about how they learned to drive, Progressive surveyed 513 drivers aged 18 to 25. Most (71%) of whom got their license in the last five years. We asked them what age they were when they got their license, if they took driver's ed, what they learned, and how it prepared them for being behind the wheel.

Key takeaways

• 65% of survey respondents took driver's education because it was required by their state.
• In states where driver's ed isn't required, 19% took voluntary lessons, and 12% didn't take any driver's education courses at all.
• Studies show that more supervised driving practice hours can reduce crashes among new teen drivers by 39%.
• Those who got their license at 16 were more likely to spend 41-60 hours driving with supervision (41%). In general, the survey reflects the goal of state graduated drivers licensing (GDL) programs: the younger the driver, the more time behind the wheel is supervised.

Expert Bios

More practice hours make the biggest difference for new drivers

Cathy Chase, president of the nonprofit Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (AHAS), says no independent study shows driver's ed is effective in reducing crashes, but there are studies that show more supervised driving practice can reduce crashes by 39%.

Chase and her organization advocate for 70 practice hours or more being the standard. "Every position we take is based on research," she says.

After graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws were widely adopted by states starting in the mid-90s, crashes were reduced significantly — up to 26% in some states. But roadway fatalities increased considerably during the pandemic. For organizations like AHAS, the best response to an increased crash rate is to expand and strengthen GDL laws.

Driving laws vary by state, and there's a wide range of requirements. But even with compelling evidence that 70 hours offers the best outcomes for new driver training, getting states to change their laws and adopt new standards is complicated.

"Each state legislature has its own politics and regulations," says Chase. "Efforts to create uniformity at the federal level have proven to be a dead end. We tried to standardize driver's education and create an incentive program for states to enact stronger GDL laws, but it didn't work well for a number of reasons."

AHAS now focuses on working with state leaders by advocating for best practices for GDL laws as defined by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS):

• Minimum learner's permit age of 16
• At least 70 supervised practice hours
• Minimum intermediate license age of 17
• Night driving restriction at 8 p.m.
• Ban on all teenage passengers

Most recently, New Jersey expanded its GDL laws to cover all new drivers under the age of 21 and increased supervised driving hours to 50, with 10 of those being at night. Chase says prior to this update, New Jersey didn't require any supervised practice hours.

Research has found that practice hours allow inexperienced drivers to make errors like not paying attention, being distracted by a cell phone, and driving too fast for conditions while being supervised, creating opportunities for adults to correct them.

Supervised driving practice is the best preparation, but few drivers hit the 70-hour recommendation

Learning to drive is about being ready for real-world situations — not learning maneuvers

In our survey, drivers were more concerned about parallel parking than any other aspect of driving. 44% didn't feel prepared for parallel parking. Compare that to the 30% who didn't feel prepared for anticipating other drivers' actions and the 24% who felt unprepared for merging and changing lanes.

Lynn Rogers is a race car driver who owns and operates Parkside Driving School in Washington State and serves as the president of the trade organization Driving School Association of the Americas (DSAA). He's not surprised that parallel parking is a big concern.

"A novice driver is always wired to think the technical maneuvers (like parallel parking and reversing) are the hard thing," he says, "but instructors say it's hazard detection. For instance, approaching intersections is the hardest because that's where the lack of skill shows itself."

He says young drivers tend to think in black and white, but real-world driving has a lot of gray areas. The ability to assess and respond to unpredictable situations comes with time behind the wheel. More prepared drivers who can anticipate and respond to risks are less likely to get into accidents — and make claims on their insurance. A clean driving record can translate into lower premiums, rewarding cautious and prepared drivers for their safety on the road.

Lack of driving experience may have caused Meghan Cahill's first accident. Within a week of getting her Connecticut driver's license at age 16, she got into a scary accident. "I took a left at a green light in a notoriously dangerous intersection," she says. An oncoming car essentially T-boned her. "It certainly rattled me."

Luckily, she says, her parents made her get back behind the wheel immediately so she could shake off any nerves caused by the accident. Now, at 21, she's a cautious but confident driver and has been accident-free ever since. She agrees with the experts — it's better for inexperienced drivers to spend more time on the road with an instructor to get the practice they need. More time behind the wheel can build confidence, minimize risk, and set drivers up for a safer, and potentially less expensive, driving future.

The image of an overconfident teen who's eager to get behind the wheel might be a thing of the past, with Gen Z delaying getting their licenses more than previous generations.

"We used to see overconfidence more, but today's young drivers don't seem to be wired the same way," says Rogers. The focus for instructors has changed to making new drivers feel less anxious when driving. "We have this conversation all the time: How do you make drivers feel comfortable? We're starting to see as a national trend that our principal job in providing training is getting that person comfortable behind the wheel."

As they say, practice makes perfect.

Driver's education experiences vary

Driver's education requirements and courses vary widely from state to state, much like GDL laws. Most driver's education programs follow a similar format: classroom or online instruction followed by time with an instructor behind the wheel and a set number of supervised practice hours.

But quality can vary, too. "One person's driver's ed could be exceptional, and another's could be marginal," points out Chase.

We spoke with a handful of new drivers to learn about their experiences learning to drive. We found that the level of preparation and instruction echoed what our survey found: there's a lot of variety to how they were taught and by whom.

New driver experiences

Refocusing on driver competency

At DSAA, Lynn Rogers and his colleagues are proponents of professional instruction that focuses on driving competency — not necessarily passing the test. "As we pivot to competency, we think about the mentorship aspect. We're more able to home in on the needs of the individual student."

He says the industry is also pretty negative on parent-taught driver's education, which some states like Iowa allow. "It's not because parents can't teach their kids, but most people get taught as teenagers and don't get trained beyond that." If they're learning incorrect things, like driving with their hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel instead of 9 and 3, he says that isn't helping young drivers learn the best — and latest — rules of the road.

Older drivers went beyond state requirements more often than younger drivers