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You’re not taught just how to parallel park but actually given instruction on accident avoidance and emergency control techniques. (http://www.mpt.org/motorweek/motornews.shtml)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Teen_Crash.JPGJessica Choksey - Motorweek - Nov. 29, 2006

2006 Chevrolet Colorado involved in a serious accident w/ an inexperienced teen behind the wheel.

It's no surprise that car accidents are named the number one killer of teens age 16 to 19. Experts say that inexperience is the main culprit. And a national education program, called "Street Survival™", is aiming to reverse this deadly trend.

Founded in 2002, and run by the BMW Car Club of America Foundation with support from the Tire Rack, "Street Survival™" is a series of one-day, hands-on classed held at venues around the country. The day combines classroom time with actual behind-the-wheel exercises. All performed in a safe environment with one-on-one instruction from professional driving trainers.

Skills learn include emergency avoidance, wet and dry skid control, threshold braking, and maintain maximum traction at all times.

BILL WADE, STREET SURVIVAL NATIONAL PROGRAM MANAGER: "'Street Survival™' program is based on giving teenagers real world experiences in their driving that they might not be able to get through a commercial or their high school driving education. We're trying the fill the gap where you're not taught just how to parallel park the car but actually given instructions on accident avoidance and emergency car control techniques."

What makes "Street Survival™" unique from other driving programs is that students use their own cars for the exercises. This way the lessons learned can immediately affect their street driving habits.

The one-day "Street Survival™" program costs $60. For more information visit the BMW CCA Foundation web site, http://www.bmwccafoundation.org/.

One thing I had that maybe a lot of kids don't, is parents who make a real effort to teach safe driving. I was indoctrinated starting at the age of 10 during the day-to-day circuit. I got little tidbits along the way about why you don't make sudden moves on a highway, why you always throw a glance over the shoulder before changing lanes, why you never trust someone with a turn signal until they actually start turning, and other stuff that has kept my accident count to one fender bender rather than many severe accidents. More than that, they made it a point to put me behind the wheel as often as possible while I had my permit. In fact, I remember distinctly one incident where I nearly did turn across traffic. Fortunately my dad was there to say "What the (@&# are you doing?" before it was too late. That was a learning experience that I might not have had on my own. I took driver's ed, too, but I didn't get the same kind of instruction. The rules of the road were etched in my brain, but ten hours in a driver's ed car doesn't get you the same experience as a couple hundred hours next to an experienced driver who has a vested interest in keeping you alive.

Between me and my two siblings we have zero tickets and only my one stupid accident in total. My youngest brother, driving for only 6 months now, is the only one to have been pulled over as far as I know. Cop saw him right after one of his headlights blew, nothing he could have done about it.

I just wish more parents would take full responsibility for their kid's road education. Kids do listen, and what they learn does stick. Do we want them learning to drive from us or their newly-licensed friends? It will be one or the other.