Question Of The Day: Should Auto Maintenance Be Part of… Driver's Education?
Public schools have the unique misfortune of being the target for every harebrained idea related to learning.
Why? Because everyone is an expert! We all have great ideas! In quiet surrender, many public schools are left with ideas that result in excessive paper pushing and basic rote memorization.
Don’t get me wrong folks. Higher order thinking skills are also valued in most public schools (outside Texas). So long as they are also far, far away from the neighboring political bonfires.
So with that in mind, why not offer one more good idea from us gearheads?
It’s not enough to know how to drive a car.
Why? Because unlike the billions of people in this world who don’t own anything remotely automotive, young folks often will have access to cheap wheels.
Those cheap wheels will become expensive at some point. Neglecting maintenance. Not understanding what actually needs to be maintained. Not knowing how to perform a basic check on a car’s fluids.
All these things cost big money in the long run.
Then there is “the big one”, which comes in the form of a repair facility or a lobbying organization that makes their livelihood out of screwing the general public. The $3000 a/c repair that requires only $200 in parts and $2800 in b.s. The 3000 mile oil change in an era when some cars only need changes every 10k miles. The 50,000 mile strut replacement scam that has helped a million dollar facility down the street from me.
This is what I propose. A simple two hour clinic added to a driver’s ed course that would help make young people better drivers and better owners.
If the regular “just drive the damn care safely” curriculum was supplemented with a basic program on how to care for your car, and how to keep an eye out for common scams in our industry, it would make a difference.
How much of a difference? It’s hard to tell. In life a lot of people get screwed over for no good reason other than the fact that they simply don’t know they’re getting taken. Is automotive knowledge the exclusive domain of parents, family and friends? Or should schools take a small but definite role in educating those who don’t have those relations?
What says you?
More by Steven Lang
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--and I started working blue collar jobs at first too, and have total respect for those that still do. It's different now, I often need to see customers in the tech sector at their facilities on a regular basis. Dressed in button down shirt and slacks and jacket if required. I've already decided if I get a flat on the freeway, I will sacrifice the tire to get off the freeway and then change it and go about my business. Dittos for a pair of slacks if for whatever reason I'm stuck on the freeway. With the way good samaritans, Highway Patrol officers and stranded motorists get hurt by errant drivers, your best odds are NOT being on the side of the freeway. Funny after 2006 I haven't been stranded despite driving at least 150,000 miles since that time. Why? Not sure, but good car maintenance and awareness of conditions of tires and brakes has surely helped.
In Spain (where you have to pay +/- €1,000 to get a driver's license) it is mandatory to study a part of "mechanics", in order to understand the basics of what an engine does. In theory, you should also be able to perform very basic mechanic actions, such as check your oil, inflate your tires and change a flat tire. However, I am the only one I know that actually learnt that in driver's school. It happened that while I was attending classes, a girl in the school failed because she got a flat tire during her exam and didn't even know where the spare wheel was. She was flunked immediately. In theory (at least back in 1993) you are supposed to be able to stop the car properly and, if you had the tools, at least try to change the wheel.