Missouri teens need driver’s ed before hitting the road. Here’s their chance | Opinion
Lawmakers have a chance to bring back driver’s education courses to Missouri classrooms and I’m all for it. The state is one of just a few that does not require driver’s education classes for teens to obtain a driver’s license — but if elected officials in Jefferson City really wanted to make all of us safer, they’d consider making these courses mandatory before young drivers can take the road.
House Bill 2195, a proposal that would establish the Missouri Integrated Safe Driving Program, could be a great starting point. If approved, the measure would require public high schools in Missouri to offer driver’s ed as a free elective course beginning in the 2027-28 school year. Sponsored by Republican state Rep. Rodger Reedy of Windsor, H.B. 2195 was referred earlier this month to the lower chamber’s legislative rules committee.
According to the bill’s summary, students would learn about requirements for obtaining driving permits with an “emphasis on the knowledge, attitudes, habits, and skills necessary to safely operate a vehicle.” Under the proposal, students would be instructed on distracted driving and traffic stops, and provided data on driver safety and risky behavior, but they would not be required actually to drive.
As a father of three teen drivers and a 15-year-old still debating when she wants to take her first driving lesson, my hope is that this bill becomes law. I worry about my children’s safety every time one of them drives, and mandatory driver’s ed would help ease some of those concerns.
School-sponsored driver’s ed is not the end-all, be-all (although it was for me) — young drivers still need training outside of class — but the data shows inexperienced drivers without proper training are at risk on the road.
For example, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for 15- to 18-year-olds in the United States in 2023, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The same year, data showed 2,611 teen drivers were involved in fatal wrecks. None of us should be against any bill that would help young people drive better.
In Missouri, the No. 1 cause of teen deaths is car crashes, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. In 2023, 133 people died in crashes that involved a teen driver, MoDot reported — statistics none of us should shrug off.
Missouri is one of 13 states that doesn’t require driver’s education in high school, which I found ironic because the course I enrolled in as a 15-year-old sophomore at Eureka High School near St. Louis made me a much better driver. Because the class was considered an elective and not required, I enrolled two consecutive semesters. My main goal was to get an easy A each time. It didn’t hurt that the teacher was the father of one of my high school football teammates and we had a good rapport. But the lessons I learned about defensive driving and other road safety habits were forever ingrained in me in that class.
Back then, I knew nothing about driver’s safety, the rules of the road or how to operate any motor vehicle. I was an avid bicyclist then but cars weren’t my thing. My youngest daughter Emilee, 15, is a lot like I was at that age: afraid even to get behind the wheel.
On my 16th birthday, I went to the local DMV located in nearby Ballwin after school to take both the written test and driver’s examinations. I passed both the same day and off I went as a licensed driver. If not for driver’s ed, I would not have aced either exam.
Teen motorists around the state should have the same opportunity to learn the rules of the road before obtaining their license.
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 5:07 AM.
