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In 2002, Leon County (Florida) commissioners passed an ordinance earmarking three dollars from every traffic ticket for driver-education programs. This year, educators got $230k to spend on teaching the next generation how to navigate our roadways. They spent the money on salaries for one full-time and one part-time teacher and cars for the county's five high schools. But Tallahassee.com reports they didn't buy just any cars– they bought a fleet of Toyota Priora. You have to wonder how the students will react going from one of those with its video game dashboard and engine cut-off back to the family chariot where they actually have to learn to read an instrument cluster and listen to the engine idle.
7 Comments on “Tallahassee Teaches Teens on Toyota Hybrids...”
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I’m just glad they’re teaching it. It’s been cut out of most schools in Florida. And here’s the thing – I can (and did) pay for private instruction. I also teach my daughter(s) far more than most (with access to a skid pad/driving course, I’m more confident than most my daughter can recover from skids properly).
But what about the parent’s that can’t, won’t, or don’t? They’re on the roads, too.
Prius or not – good for them.
Having grown up in South Florida, my recollection was that the state-mandated driver training and testing was something of a joke. That some localities are trying to improve on that low baseline is a good thing.
The fact that the folks in Leon County are using a Prius — well, there certainly is a whiff of political correctness about it, which is funny because Northern Florida is not much known as a hotbed of leftism. And it’s also true that some of the finer points of listening to your engine idle, or driving without the traction control nanny, may be lost when training on such a vehicle. But considering the amount of stop-and-go driving that a training car must endure each year, is there not perhaps a legitimate cost justification for using a ~50 mpg car? And can you not concede that all of the important driving basics can be taught on a Prius — i.e. how to avoid careless driving and skid entry in the first place?
If a serious defensive driving course — one aimed at police, bodyguards and serious laymen — did its instruction on a Prius instead of a RWD Panther platform, I’d be scratching my head. But teaching the basics to a bunch of high school kids? I’m not worried. I’ve driven the occasional rental Prius here and there (first and second generation, actually), and I don’t see a problem with using it this way.
Won’t the experience of driving a hybrid better prepare them for the future of flying cars?
In all seriousness, they are lucky they aren’t learning on something like the Aveo. Yes the Prius is a hybrid, but it’s still a car, right? Four wheels, engine, steering wheel, gas and brake pedals, etc.
I hope the money is spent wisely. The course I took here in TX was beyond laughable. I knew more walking in than I could have learned if they tried. My 14 hours of driving/observing consisted of running errands for the “instructors,” and no, I’m not joking. Our final consisted of 20 multiple-choice questions on sign meanings – yes, sign meanings. Imagine a Stop sign, Yield sign, Watch for ICE on Bridge sign, etc.
Drivers Education in TX is sad. It shows, too. I don’t really care what my future kid/chilren learn in (assuming that it’s a relatively safe vehicle, of course) as long as they LEARN. Needless to say, I’ll probably be teaching my kid/s on my own.
As far as the electric nannies go, as much as I might disagree with learning in such a situation, at least the safety systems protect the freshman drivers. Also, this will be mandatory in just a few years anyway – NOT to say that people shouldn’t learn to drive without the assistance, but it is a relief to know that the setup they will learn on will be used in the future.
Of course, the car I taught myself to drive in correctly happens to be a RWD 5sp 80’s 300ZX with no ABS – best way to learn in my book.
I still think everybody, unless he is missing an arm, a leg or both, should learn to drive in a manual transmission car.
Learning to drive in an automatic is like learning to read with a comic book.
Unless they changed the rules while I wasn’t looking, Prius owners usually refer to the plural as “Prii” (pronounced “Pre-eye”).
I don’t think Toyota gave us any guidelines; there’s nothing in my owner’s manual on proper spelling of the plural.
But I kind of like “Priora.” It has a nice sound; much better than “Prium” or “Pria” or the absolute worst, “Priuses”….
Oops, forgot to actually discuss the article!
I don’t object to driver’s ed teaching on a Prius. But I also agree that everybody should learn on a stick, which is not available on the Prius.
And for a local government to consider purchasing Prius for it’s driver training courses, I think that’s a good idea. There ARE Prius taxicabs and police cars (community relations officers). It’s a great car for heavy stop/go driving. In fact, I’m curious as to why the Postal Service doesn’t employ them!