The Daily Campus

Yes, it's true that $535+ may be prohibitively expensive for some low-income families. But the requirement to have more hours of training and practice before achieving your first driver's license is not a punishment, it's a necessity! I think that the problem is with privatizing driver's education from the public schools to the commercial, for-profit driving schools where profit, not safety, is the main motive. There is, after all, no accountability, no quality assurances to make sure the driving schools are really teaching students how to drive well. If a teenager gets into a wreck, nobody asks "Well, which driving school did they attend?" The only motivation for these schools is to churn out grads and collect their money. Driver's Education used to be done in public schools and it was free - or a nominal fee was paid for gas or materials. While there was still no accountability, and usually the Coach was sort of by default made into the driving "expert", at least the dollar motive was not there and even the poorest students could afford a decent education.
Another issue which is slowly gaining ground is the wisdom of delaying the age of licensing to at least age 18. Most neurological experts are aware that the human brain is not fully mature until age 24, that there is some evidence that our brain's developmental maturity is arriving later and later than prior generations. In 1908, a 16-year-old had far more adult responsibility and may have been considered an adult in many contexts. In some cases, that may be true now but most are still children in mind, spirit and body and are not ready for the responsibility of driving.

Can't afford all that comes with a license? Get off your lazy ass and WALK, ride a bike, or use public transportation. People wonder why this generation has so much obesity...

Teenagers work entry level jobs anyway, so it's not that hard to find one within walking distance. God forbid someone doesn't have a private vehicle to take themselves to work.

There are too many teenagers that drive like assholes anyhow.