It sometimes seems like young people believe they are invincible. According to one statistic, only 56 percent of teens in Missouri wear a seatbelt, as opposed to more than 70 percent of drivers overall. However, the issue may not be misguided believe of invincibility as much as a lack of driver education for teens.

Graduated Drivers License

The graduated drivers license program, or GDL, in effect in Missouri offers teens provisional licenses which allow them to drive under restricted circumstances. This allows teens to gain experience driving with a licensed driver until they are allowed to drive on their own. But as much as 50% of teenagers fail the learner?s permit exam the first time they take it.

Although the learner?s permit exam is rigorous, education is all that is required to pass it. If your teen has already failed the learner?s permit exam, he or she may suffer damage to self-esteem and lose confidence in his or her ability to drive. A driver education course can not only help your teen regain confidence, but know what to do in dangerous situations, before they encounter them.

Knowing Who to Trust

Many teens lack common sense when driving not because of a lack of intelligence, but because what we call ?common sense? is actually learned responses to certain situations. For example, while you may understand that it is dangerous to pull over in certain circumstances, your teen may not know that he or she has the option of driving to a safe place before pulling over.

A good driver education course should teach your teen:

? How to respond to law enforcement officials

? How to care for a car

? Missouri traffic law and how to follow it

? Highway safety

? How to respond to dangerous situations

? What do to after a car accident

Professional Driver Education

You may believe that you can offer your teen sufficient driver education to prepare him or her for any situation, but professional driver education offers a number of benefits:

? Insurance credit

? Standardized curriculum

? Extensive knowledge

? Interactive learning with the instructor or other teens

? Confidence

Many high schools offer driver education for their students, or recommend a driver education course to their students at a discounted rate. You can contact your student?s high school to learn if they have a preferred driver education course and how to enroll your teen.

To learn more about the benefits of driver education for teens, please visit the website of The Bradley Law Firm, serving driving teens and their parents in the St. Louis, Jefferson City, and Kansas City areas of Missouri.