joe.apex's blog

Just the other day a very sad story came across the news entitled "Massachusetts teen convicted of homicide in texting-while-driving case". DWT (Driving While Texting) has been in the news for several years now and research has clearly shown that DWT is very dangerous. And to top it off, it is illegal in many states to drive while texting. Drivers ed courses may touch on this topic, but there's a bit more to the story. Let's explore a few reasons why teens are particularly susceptable to the dangers of DWT.

In a recent article on the the best selling cars of all time, incredibly the Ford Model T was the 8th best selling car of all time. After reading this article, the success of the Model T caused me to do a little further research which I thought worth sharing. Chalk this up to curiosity, one of those facts that was never taught in drivers ed, but is interesting enough to write down a few facts on the first production automobile, the Model T.

With the 2012 Memorial Day weekend coming to a close, everyone's mind is now turning to the upcoming summer. School will soon be out and teens will have extra time for summer work, the beach, and summer driving. However, I want to bring attention to the fact that the summer months are the deadliest on our nation's highways for teens. During the summer of 2010, according to Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data, every weekend 45 youths died in motor vehicle crashes. The deadliest season was summer for youth in the U.S. and in July 364 youth, ages 15-20, died in traffic crashes.

A study recently performed at Ithaka S+R (a group part of ITHAKA, a non-profit organization that finds innovative ways to use technology in higher education) provides evidence that students taking online instruction at the university level show essentially the same results as those attending in a traditional format.

I can't stress enough the importance of the proper setup and use of mirrors. They are literally one of the key safety devices on a car and most people take them for granted. My goal in this blog is to convince you to take using your mirrors seriously. We consider this so important that we have two driving tips available for Mirror Setup and then Mirror Use.

For those who are serious about online drivers education, an obvious goal is to decrease the number of teen collisions. This is indeed a lofty goal, albeit one that is fraught with misinformation and anecdotal evidence. A teen just died in a collision yesterday, which immediately snaps up back to reality. The headline reads something like “Speed Suspected In Teen Collision Death”, which is a terrible headline and may wind up killing more teens.

Roundabouts are finally starting to gain ground in the United States, literally. And it’s about time since they have been a standard of road construction in Europe almost since the car was invented. Modern drivers ed programs, both online drivers ed and classroom instruction are now teaching how to maneuver a rounbabout. Interestingly, these road constructs can be very controversial and in some cases cause major political battles.

I ran across an interesting study the other day on parking. The study is about the difference between the parking habits of men vs. women and when any study becomes a battle of the sexes it always makes for a good discussion. The study does talk about the retention of drivers ed parking lessons, which is an interesting facet.

There is little in your driving life more annoying than left lane campers. There are many other descriptive terms, such as “Fast Lane Blockers”, “Day Dream Drivers”, etc. Any way you look at it, these are the drivers who spend time in the left-hand lanes of our roads going slower than the surrounding traffic. Some online drivers ed courses teach the proper use of lanes while driving, but most do not so please pay close attention to this article.