Here is a great idea from Tammi Marcus - a co-worker of mine: What about requiring all teenagers who are learning to drive be assigned so many hours on a driving simulator. Besides the 50 hours that the kids are required to drive with a parent or guardian, an additional specific amount of time on a simulator could be very beneficial. We all know, that not ever parent is well suited to teach a teenager to drive (most are nervous wrecks, distracted by other responsibilties etc.), we also know that not every situation can be covered in those 50 hours (handling a vehicle with a blow-out, driving in ice and snow, avoiding potential accidents, etc.). The future drivers could be introduced to accidents, fender benders, etc. and would be taught how to avoid such incidents. A point system could be established - whereby, after a certain amount of time on the simulator a student earns points for safe driving - those points could be used to get discounts on car insurance, maybe for discounts of automoble related products, etc.
I know that providing the simulators could get costly - but with the price of technology dropping all of the time, it's not totally unfeasible. I also think that if the number of traffic accidents is significantly reduced - that would have a very positive affect on the community and could outweigh the cost of additional driver training.
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Growing up in a foreigne country much small than the USA we had regular driving school that one had to be 18 years old to attend. It was a lenghty process to study, learn to drive and then test. Since being in the USA for over 27 years this has changed in my country of origin. Not for the better, now it A.) Costs more, and B.) takes longer. My sister and niece while visiting said "It's to easy to get a driver license here in the USA". I also agree it's a bit to easy. But improvements are being made. Discount on car insurance I would only offer to proven safe drivers. A simulator is still a relative controlled environment (less actual crunch zones), but still not reality away from a trainer.
I've been on the same wavelength for years.
The way to make this happen is to make it pay. High Schools use food vending machines to make money, but many school districts don't have the budget to fund drivers' ed. Put these two ideas together with the driving simulator, and you have a win/win for schools, young drivers, and parents. Not to mention all the rest of us that share the road. How it works:
1.Get a really cool simulator that would compete with the virtual reality games played on computers and in arcades.
2.Set the game up so that you get a print out of your score every time you play. This can be used by parents to monitor how thier child is doing, and what kinds of driving they need to do to improve. It can also serve as a means for them to say: You may get your license when your score is so many points on the simulator.
3.Profits from the machines go to schools, These can be used for tokens to be given to kids who can't afford to play, then any remaining can be used for other programs.