For most 15-year-olds, driver’s education classes are an exciting rite of passage where they get to put all the Illinois Rules of the Road classroom knowledge into practice behind the wheel. But car safety issues are compromising most Chicago-area driver’s ed programs, according to a Chicago Tribune story.

In Chicago, public school students practice their driving skills in what the Tribune calls “some of the oldest and worst-rated driver’s education cars in the state.”  Safety ratings of the cars students learn to drive in vary dramatically. Crash-test ratings for the vehicles are too low, and in several cases where side airbags are available, school districts aren’t using them.

What Illinois needs is for a state agency to track car types and safety and develop unified oversight. As State Sen. Susan Garrett put it: “You don’t want these young drivers in cars that don’t have airbags… and frankly are unsafe.”

Some of the cars used by the Chicago Public Schools are older than the students themselves. In addition, half of the district’s vehicles are small cars, adding to safety concerns.

The Chicago Tribune article reported that a school driving site revealed vehicles with strips of duct tape, broken tail lights and dents. Suburban districts also have similar problems, according to the story.

The Illinois High School and College Driver Education Association has gone on record stating that driver’s ed cars should be at least mid-sized and no more than 10 years old. This makes sense in principle, but the lack of state funds to replace aging vehicles complicates the problem.

The bottom line? A safe car is not only essential but critical when an inexperienced student driver is learning. Car models should receive strong crash-test ratings, have side air bags and electronic stability systems. Finally, there needs to be a strong oversight system in place, and somehow, financing must be found to replace older cars.