EL PASO, Texas — According to the Texas Department of Transportation almost 20 percent of automobile accidents are caused by adult drivers, ages 18-24.
Since March, 2010, a new Texas driver’s license law has been in effect. For the first time driver license applicants from the ages 18 to 24 must now receive a certificate which states they have successfully completed and passed the six-hour adult driving course by the Texas Education Agency, before they can take the standard driving test to receive their driver’s license.
A business in El Paso offers the new adult driving course. (Brenda Sanchez/Borderzine.com)
This course, which costs $100, can be taken online or in person, but it has provoked speculation whether it is really necessary and whether it will be effective.
This new law, Senate Bill 1371 passed by the 81st Texas Legislature last year, incorporates two series of tests, one which is highway signs and traffic laws.
Officer John Solis with the El Paso Police Department finds this new driver’s license law as a positive change.
“Young drivers really don’t know the mechanics and consequences when driving. We see a lot of reckless driving; this educational course is comprehensive and brings awareness to one’s responsibilities when they are behind the wheel; it’s not only an El Paso issue.”
Before this new statute was in effect, driver license applicants needed to take a test much similar. However, the fee was much less and there was no course given, therefore knowledge was expected by the individual when they arrived to take the exam.
“Even though the former driving exam compared with the current may in fact be very similar, I still find the new requirement effective,” former police officer, J. Avila says.
“In a classroom setting you can ask questions and when watching short movies I feel you are more engaged than with studying the material by one self. If one has proper training I believe it would help reduce traffic fatalities.”
This new law has mixed reviews in the community, whether it is the course fee, the schedule and the limited number of seats, based on “first come, first serve,” and online course requirements. Most would prefer to take it online but claim that the certificate takes too long to arrive in the mail, or they do not have extra funds to pay for express delivery.
El Pasoan, Sam Torres, found the class to be ineffective. He claims that a lot of time is spent watching movies which gets boring and the class overall is easy to pass.
“We watched a lot of movies, like accidents, driving drunk, most of it was not new to us. The tests that were given to us were not hard; everyone in the class passed them.”
Torres and several students who took the six-hour course feel the price is a bit too pricy for their budget, as some of them do not have a job.
“When I was first told this course was going to cost a $100, it bothered me a little, not every teenager has a job. Well what can I do, I need a driver’s license,” says Marcus Gonzalez.
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Note: For more information on this new driver license law and for locations where you can obtain your driver’s educational certificate, please visit: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/drive/activede.html
There are still too many “vegetables” with licenses (some without) driving on our streets. Even at $100.oo it’s too little to make people appreciate how serious driving is. A driver’s license is not a RIGHT. It is interesting that the people who dislike the photo enforced intersections are the ones who have been ticketed. Only when it hurts the pocket book do we consider changing our driving behavior. Let’s push for better (more efficient) public transportation.