Driving & road safety
Driving knowledge, road tests, distraction and access to driver education.
Driving Tests in the United States: Why Knowledge and Judgment Both Matter
A knowledge test can check whether a learner recognizes road rules, but safe driving also depends on supervised practice, experience, and sound decisions in changing conditions.
Should Driver Education Be Easier for Low-Income Students to Access?
An argument for reducing financial and logistical barriers to driver education while preserving supervised practice, licensing standards, and the distinction between a promising policy and a proven safety outcome.
What Should a U.S. Road Test Measure?
A road test should assess safe decisions and vehicle control, count ordinary errors transparently, and treat critical failures separately. California’s published scoring conditions and New York’s documented parallel-parking task illustrate different parts of that standard, while the limits of the public materials caution against unsupported comparisons.
Distracted Driving Is More Than a Texting Problem
An explanatory essay showing how visual, manual, and cognitive distractions affect driving, why responsibility rests with the driver, and why hands-free devices do not eliminate distraction.