Statistically, Missouri has the highest likelihood of producing a failed driver’s license test. This means that when drivers are the most likely to fail the test if they take in Missouri compared to any other state in the United States. They have a higher fail rate than pass rate. For the written exam portion needed in order to receive a learner’s permit, Missouri only has a 39% pass rate. Its neighbor, Kansas, has a 76% pass rate. Some are starting to believe they know why Missouri has such a bad pass rate. It is one of the few states that does not require testers to take driver’s education classes prior to driving. Only ten other states do not require this course prior to testing.

However, some lawmakers think this needs to be changed in the Show Me State.

A recent proposed bill has been making moves in the state that would require all public high school students, regardless of whether they drive yet or not, to take driver’s education courses. The bill proposes that the course be implemented into health class. The bill does not specify that the course has to have behind the wheel driving practice included in the curriculum. Most likely, the course would just be class school style in which students learn and study material. The material in this case would simply be focused on the rules of the road.

The push for driver’s education classes has to do with the high car crash fatality rates.

Part of why drivers fail the exam so frequently in Missouri is because they simply do not know the material. Many go into driving thinking its fairly straightforward, when there is actually a lot more to know about the technicalities of driving than one may assume. For those who do pass, they still have not been properly educated on the full ins and outs of driving, since they lack driver’s education classes. This has created a problem in which Missouri has very high car crash rates, specifically car crash fatality rates. Kansas City in particular has one of the highest car crash fatality rates in the country.

To combat this, lawmakers set a goal to get the number of car crash fatalities down to zero by 2030.

However, they cannot just set the goal and hope it comes true naturally. That is where driver’s education comes in. Lawmakers have concluded that if young people are taught the safety ins and outs of being a driver prior to driving or in their early days of driving, then the roads will end up safer over the next few years.

In addition to driver’s education, lawmakers are hoping for a few other things to accomplish their zero car crash fatalities goal. This includes methods such as road diets and red-light cameras.

The precedent for driver’s education differs from state to state.

According to the current proposal, Missouri would establish the driver’s education by making it a requirement to graduate high school. This would require all young persons in the state to take the class, regardless of whether they ever plan to drive. This would boost safety knowledge overall and ideally help save lives in the state.