Elizabeth Iacovelli

Professional driver education consistently leads to safer young drivers because it provides standardized, evidence-based training that parents—no matter how well-intentioned—are not equipped to replicate. Instructors are trained to teach defensive driving, hazard recognition, decision-making under pressure, and to correct dangerous habits early, using methods proven to reduce crashes among new drivers. Programs also expose teens to situations most parents cannot safely simulate, such as emergency braking, night driving risks, impaired-driver awareness, and complex traffic scenarios. Allowing this requirement to be waived weakens a system that is designed to protect not only young drivers, but everyone who shares the road with them.