Oregon Driver Education Found to Reduce Crashes and Citations!

By now, you may have heard that a recent study found that teens who take driver education in Oregon have both fewer collisions and fewer citations- and this is great news!  The study, conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, is the largest study of driver education every conducted in the U.S.


The study compared almost 95,000 teens who either did or did not take driver education.  Their driving records were examined to determine whether each driver had been involved in a collision or had been convicted of a traffic violation.  The results were positive- teens who took driver education were involved in fewer collisions and had fewer traffic convictions.


Because like every state, Oregon’s driver education program is unique, the study’s results cannot be generalized to necessarily reflect the impact of driver education across the entire nation, the safety community should be encouraged by the findings.


So, the next time you come across a legislator, parent or other person who is asking “Does driver education produce safer drivers?,” direct them to https://www.aaafoundation.org/evaluation-beginner-driver-education-programs-studies-manitoba-and-oregon, where the full report and a two-page Fact Sheet are available.  In fact, we invite you to personally review the report’s findings- the Fact Sheet makes for some good reading.


But right now, take a minute to recognize and acknowledge your contributions to helping enhance teen driving safety.  Pat yourself on the back- you’ve earned it!


– The Team, AAA Driver Training Programs