While I’ve only been driving on my own for a year and a half now (2 years if you count the 6 months I had my permit) I feel that I am a pretty safe driver. I obey traffic rules and I don’t pull any risky stunts like pulling out in front of somebody or cutting somebody else off. I feel like I was able to take what I learned in driver’s ed and apply it in my everyday driving. I wish the same could be said for some of my fellow teenage drivers. I have a theory as to why teenage driving rates are so bad. This theory is definitely not the only reason; it is only offering a possible reason. I’d like you to keep in mind that this theory really only applies to the state of Texas because Texas is the only state that I know how driver’s ed works. And frankly, I’m too lazy and don’t have enough time on my hands to google driver’s ed in the other 49 states. There are several different options to choose from to take Driver’s Ed. You can take a class and have an instructor, or you can do DPS-approved parent taught driver’s ed. Parent taught ranges from several online curriculums to books and instructional DVDs. Parent taught driver’s ed is generally cheaper than driver’s ed taught by an instructor, so that tends to be the route most people go. Driver’s ed taught in schools isn’t an option in most schools anymore. I took parent taught driver’s ed and for me it was the worst way to learn driver’s ed. It would have been better to learn how to drive from someone other than my parent, as I think it would be the same for other teenagers. There is also no real way of knowing whether or not the required curriculum is being covered. Sure, there is a paper that has to be signed and dated showing that each lesson was covered, but it would be so easy for someone to lie. It really would. So there is no real way of knowing that everything that is supposed to be covered is actually covered. I think the other part of the problem is the driving test is now optional. Parents can elect for their child to not take the driving test so most do not. The administrator of my driving test told me that only about 20% of the teenagers who get their license take the driving exam. Only 20%. That’s actually a low amount of teenagers who take the exam. If the parents deem that their child is a safe driver, they don’t have to take the test. But just because a parent deems the teenagers safe, does that mean they really are a safe driver?