WTF With WOAI

[Das Texan]

well now thats a well written response......

short and to the point.

i could go into a long disseration, but why bother?


its woai, they like the 'blurbs'

[ShoogarBear]

I didn't know that about Drivers' Ed. That's absolutely terrible; how do they justify that?

[JeffCoyle]

Jeff, you're getting too close with that last comment about driver's ed... we did that with our daughter (she's now 20). I don't recall if we taught her how to parallel park, but we did make sure we were satisfied that she knew how to drive well. However, we may have fudged a little on some of the technical details of the program... (spank me, I'm a bad boy).[/i]

CrazyOne,

Thanks for the well-written response. Don't get me wrong: I think there are many parents who can teach drivers ed better than a commercial teacher who doesn't know your kid as well as you do. We had an example in the story of a mother/daughter who were diligently going through every chapter in the drivers ed manuals. But it's not beyond the stretch of imagination that there are some parents who will simply "sign off" on the form.

Either way, the story wasn't about my opinion. It was focused on two facts: that accidents rates had shot up and that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had commissioned a review of Texas' program.

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you.

Jeff

[2Blonde]

I didn't know that about Drivers' Ed. That's absolutely terrible; how do they justify that?

I wondered that myself. I went to their website last week because I wanted to look up a Texas driving law and couldn't find the manual online, *but found out the parents could teach drivers ed by writing away for a kit and promising to study for 32 hours before teaching their kid how to drive. Also it said they can begin the instruction when the child is 14. The child get a permit after they are 15 and a license after they are 16 or 6 months after they receive their permit, which ever is later. NO FRIGGIN WAY!!! I think my daughter may need to go through 2 official driver's ed courses before I let her get a permit. And I think 15 is too young to be out on the road in a city this big.

*I reserve the right to be slightly wrong on some of these facts since it was last week when I looked at the website. But I am pretty sure I got it right.

[JeffCoyle]

I didn't know that about Drivers' Ed. That's absolutely terrible; how do they justify that?

There were several factors at play. First, most school district dropped drivers ed from their curriculums due to budget cuts. Only NEISD still teaches it in San Antonio. That left parents with only one option, really: commercial driving school. At $300/course, this option might not be affordable for everyone. Second, the vast majority of teens passed the DPS driving test, so the legislature figured it wasn't very useful. Third, this was all tied in to the move to allow parents to home school children in Texas. The home school groups also wanted the right to teach their kids to drive. The legislature decided if they were going to allow some to teach their own children to drive, they had to let everyone. Now, the largest percentage of drivers ed certification forms are issued to parents, not drivers ed instructors.

Jeff

[ShoogarBear]

Yes, there may be some parents who can do an adequate job of teaching their children how to drive. That doesn't absolve the state of the responsibility of testing the kids before they grant a state-approved liscense.

I'm suprised there hasn't been a huge lawsuit against the state of Texas after some kid they gave a license to based on the parents' say-so seriously hurt someone (or worse) in an accident.

Cool, maybe we can try this system for granting pilots' licenses next.

[CharlieMac]

foofida got owned.

I did watch that report by the way. I don't remember it now though.

[travis2]

Interesting story about drivers ed...

My wife and I taught our oldest through the "parent-teach" program. However, we DID NOT WAIVE the drivers test. Not only did we want an outside check of how we did, but we told her "hey...we had to survive the test, so do you"...

However...BECAUSE we had her take the test...the lady behind the counter told us "OK, your test is at 3...when you come back, DO NOT stand in line, come straight here." Then after she took the test, she told us, "OK, now stand in THAT LINE there. Do NOT take a number." She later told me that she does that for people who go through the test...for "parent waivers" she makes them take a number and spend all that time waiting.

[JeffCoyle]

Wow. Very interesting. They must figure you deserve the special treatment for making sure your teen is ready. Thanks for sharing.

[SA210]

The Troubleshooters are usually too busy going after mom and pop businesses.

[PakiDan]

Foofida,

Did you ever watch the story? Or did you make your conclusions based solely on a 10 second promo?

The report was based on a National Ins utes of Health (NIH) study that found the part of the human brain that weighs risks and makes decisions isn't fully developed until age 25. Senators and Congressman have used the study as justification for raising the driving age. The study was also reported on by numerous media outlets including NBC News and the Washington Post.

Now why exactly is that a reason not to watch WOAI-TV?


Jeff

Well Jeff,

The person who wrote that Tag should be shot. Where do you all hire from?? the Mail Order school of Journalism?