Hellobee Boards

I never did. I waited to get my license until I was 17 - my mom taught me (and it wasn't just a one time thing, I had my permit and she spent several months off and on teaching/driving with me) and then I took the state tests and passed first time. No tickets, no accidents.

@coopsmama: I also waited until I was 17. @Mamaof2: it was not free I was in it with kids from other schools. My HS had drivers Ed- I'm not sure if that was free but my parents chose the Sears program.

I didn't think it was required when I was a teen. You had to log like 100 hours or something with an adult while you had your permit but no class.

@youboots: @coopsmama: I had to wait, as well.

As far as free goes: I'm not sure about that. There are things you need to pay for in order to be eligible for a license, like a medical exam, glasses (if you need them), and the license fee. I think there should be low-cost or subsidized programs, but they should be held to the same standard. Too many accidents are caused by human error. It's a safrty thing.

I didn't take driver's ed through school; my dad taught me, another uncle helped me, and I think I did take a few actual driving classes.

I think it should be required with a free option. It was required in MI when I got my license but not in TN for my DH and it's amazing to me the little road rules that he doesn't know. And he's a well-educated guy and generally a good driver!

I live in Michigan and I swear half the people I know don't actually know what the law is in multiple daily scenarios. It drives me batty. I am a big fan of stricter *something* in regards to being able to get your license-and maybe even something again once you reach a certain age. I've seen multiple accidents due to people simply not understanding the traffic patterns.

I do understand cost being an issue though, we had the option of taking it at our public high school so it wasn't an issue. I wish that were an option everywhere.

I took it as an elective for a quarter in high school. While the class itself was kind of a joke, I did find the time in a car with the instructor useful. However I (or rather my parents) would never have paid to take private driver's ed.

However, now we are contemplating having my husband take a private driver's ed course--he is from another country and while he knows how to drive he never actually had a license (gotta love developing countries). I'm not patient enough to spend the 100 hours or whatever it is in the car with him, so I can see the appeal of having someone else do it.

I had a quarter of classroom only driver's Ed in 10th grade (part of the curriculum), had to do the 50ish hours of supervised driving, and then took a week of a behind-the-wheel course, which my parents paid for. At the end of the week-long course I had a driving test and got my license.
I think it's important to have some kind of required training to learn the traffic laws (the written test was pretty basic) but $1000 does seem quite excessive.

It is required in Iowa and I agree with that.
I had my permit at 14 and school permit shortly after so I was driving to/from school at 14-1/2.
In Iowa you can get a school permit 6 months after getting your regular permit, and after you've taken Driver's ed. I believe it is around $200?

My step daughter will most likely have her school permit at 14-1/2 as well so she can get home after sports games without us having to drive 40 minutes round trip to pick her up. Any other day she will ride the bus.

For an intermediate license (16) Drivers Ed is required + 20 addt'l hours of supervised driving. At 17 a full license is given.

Hm, I did a class in HS, did some lessons (3?) with an instructor and had to drive with a permit with my parents to get my license right at 16. I don't think I knew any other way to go about it!