High schools curb driver's ed as interest dies

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

At 16, Yehyang Kin is old enough to drive, but the San Francisco high school student doesn't have a license and doesn't want one anytime soon, a heretical notion to teens some 20 years ago.

These days, many teens across the state appear to think driver's education is a waste of time and are in no hurry to take the wheel.

One recent afternoon, Yehyang and 20 of her Lowell High School classmates flipped through copies of the 2007 Department of Motor Vehicles Driver Handbook, looking bored and grumpy.

"This booklet we can get" at the DMV, Yehyang said, not caring that her teacher was within earshot. "I don't see why we have to spend nine weeks on this."

The sophomore said she wouldn't be taking the course if her diploma weren't riding on it. Within a month or so, that may no longer be the case.

The San Francisco school board is looking to abolish the graduation requirement, offering the classroom course only as an elective. A vote is expected in May.

Currently, officials say, San Francisco is one of a handful of school districts across the state that still require the course for graduation.

In the late 1980s, virtually every high school taught students the rules of the road and then put them behind the wheel of a sturdy car with the gym teacher's foot poised above a "chicken brake" in the passenger seat.

It was a rite of passage eagerly awaited by 15-year-olds looking for a learner's permit.

In 1990, the state pulled the funding that paid for the driver's training, and almost overnight, the behind-the-wheel instruction was eliminated.

At the time, 250,000 students in 950 high schools got driver's training. Last year, only 440 students in seven high schools - mostly in rural areas - got the training.

The state still requires classroom-based driver's education, but that law is largely ignored, with only 1 in 4 California high schools offering the course.

State Department of Education officials said they don't have the authority to enforce that law.

Local youths aren't complaining about the absence of the class.

In San Francisco, the school board's two student delegates initiated the effort to drop the graduation requirement.

"We believe driver's education should be more of an option," said Nestor Reyes, a sophomore at June Jordan School for Equity, adding that students are carrying full loads to fulfill college entrance requirements. "Most of them haven't taken driver's education because of time."

Like the Lowell students, teens nowadays appear to be in no hurry to get behind the wheel of a car.

Last year, about 14 percent of the state's 16-year-olds had driver's licenses, down from about 20 percent in 2000, a number that's declined for more than a decade.

Cost is probably a deterrent, with gas and insurance on the rise and the required behind-the-wheel driver's training running upward of $400. Also, there have been increasing restrictions on young drivers.

Maxx Gavrich plans to be in that minority. The Lowell High student took his first private driving lesson and can't wait to get his license when he turns 16 in September.

"I'm excited about being independent," Maxx said, adding that most of his friends "aren't too keen on driving."

They are either too nervous, their parents won't let them, or they simply don't care about driving yet, he said.

At 18, teens can get licenses without taking driver's education or behind-the-wheel training, and they can drive when and with whom they please.

And that's a problem, said private driving instructor Judy Lundblad, owner of Ann's "Fearless Driver" Driving School of San Francisco.

"We're the only country that doesn't treat this as a very valuable skill," Lundblad said. "They're not all natural drivers."

With driver's education largely unavailable in high schools, many 16- and 17-year-olds who want to drive are hitting the Internet to learn, paying for online driver's education courses that fulfill the DMV requirements.

State Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, is looking to bring driver's education back into public schools, pushing a bill to add an extra $10 to the $27 fee to take the Department of Motor Vehicles driving test. It would raise $2 million to help pay for the classes.

"The big thing is teens are at a much larger proportion to be engaged in fatal accidents," he said. "This is a significant issue for all of us."

But the trend is going in the other direction.

This semester, Fremont's Kennedy High School canceled its driver's education classes to save money and avoid cuts to academic courses.

Advanced Placement and honors "are great, but they aren't going to keep our kids alive," said Trina Bega, health and driver's education teacher at the school. "Smart kids get killed and injured in crashes too."

Provisional licenses

A provisional license allows young drivers to operate a car alone from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the first 12 months. Otherwise, the provisional driver must be accompanied by a licensed driver older than 25.

Those younger than 18 can qualify for a provisional driver's license in California if they:

-- Are at least 16 years old

-- Have completed driver education and six hours of professional driver training

-- Have an instruction permit and have completed 50 hours of practice driving - 10 at night - with a licensed adult of at least 25 years of age

-- Have passed the Department of Motor Vehicles driving test