Driving Toward Safety

 

 

There's a group of people who work hard to keep young people .. and all of us .. safe on the road.  We often take them for granted.

I am in Portland, Oregon for the annual conference of driver ed teachers held by ADTSEA, the American Driver Training & Safety Education Association.  I am here on double duty, representing my client The National Road Safety Foundation and also as a member of ADTSEA's Executive Board.

Driver ed teachers are too often underappreciated.  Even other educators frequently dismiss the validity of what driver ed teachers do. After all, it's not an academic subject like math, science or English.

But driver ed teachers are a dedicated group, passionate about teaching young people not only how to handle a car, but how to make sensible decisions.  They teach how to make a left turn across traffic, but also how to make the decision not to text or talk on the phone while driving.

What they teach gives us more than mobility and freedom.  They help us travel safely.  They help us avoid needless tragedy and heartache.

So that's off to driver ed teachers.  Thanks for what you do for our kids and for all of us.

                                      2016 Teacher Excellence Award winners

                                             (Photo by race car driver and safety educator Andy Pilgrim)