Dear Mahatma: I read with interest about the decline in traffic fatalities and wonder if mandatory driver’s education would reduce the number even further. Or is it mandatory?
And why aren’t parallel parking and interstate merging included in the road test? My son has his license, and I feel it was far too easy to get.
I won’t let him on the highway because he’s not ready, yet legally he could, and that’s kind of scary. - Thinks Licensing Too Easy
Dear Thinks: Your son must be a teenager. We have a refrigerator magnet at our house. It says this: “Stamp out boredom. Rent a teenager.” And so we feel your anxiety.
The Mahatma pitched three specific questions to the Arkansas State Police, the agency that administers the written and road tests by which hordes of young people get their licenses every year. With the help of the Highway Patrol Division, we have some answers. Crib notes in parentheses.
Is driver’s education required in Arkansas in any way, shape or form?
There is no statutory or regulatory prerequisite for an applicant to be trained by a driving school before taking the written or road test. The Arkansas Driver License Study Guide is the authoritative source of information necessary for a driving test applicant. It’s available at all state police offices, or at www.asparkansas.gov.
(The Mahatma keeps a copy in his bookcase. The state police doesn’t say this, but we will: Run for the Legislature; introduce a bill to make driver’s education mandatory. See what happens.)
Is parallel parking part of the driving test?
A state police examiner, using his discretion, may instruct an applicant to demonstrate a variety of driving and parking maneuvers, including parallel parking. Such a request is not out of the ordinary. The job of the examiner is to be convinced that the applicant can drive that thing safely and in accordance with the rules of the road.
(The Mahatma thinks parallel parking is a booger but knows that like any other driving skill, the more it’s done, the better you get.)
Is interstate merging part of the test?
Testing goes on in all of the state’s 75 counties, but not every county has interstate or controlled access highways. Again, an examiner has the discretion to choose the testing route.
But a demonstration of interstate merging skills is not mandatory.
Troopers must have teenagers, too. Because they tell us there is some reasonable expectation that parents or guardians who helped get their young people ready to take the driver’s license test will keep on teaching to make sure their youngsters are safe drivers. Sounds like our reader, doesn’t it?
(Put another way: Stamp out boredom. Sit in the passenger seat while a teenager drives.)
Vanity plates seen around town: TNX GOD, MYGOD2 and RUNT. The latter was on a Scion iQ , a car that weighs about as much as a cat.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/22/2014