Driving is dangerous for unprepared
Everyone knows that the roads can be unforgiving to the timid. Wherever there is someone driving too slowly, a speed demon is sure to appear. If someone hesitates at the end of an onramp, no one else is going to change lanes to let him on. Finally, who among us has not been impatient with someone wanting to make a right turn at an intersection who hesitated with no real cross-traffic?
It is a sad fact that most high school driving instruction is inadequate to prepare people for dealing with traffic. Instructors teach their students how to keep a car going in a straight line, how to start and stop, sometimes even the basics of dealing with traffic; but they do not teach how to use good sense while driving, just assuming that this will come as is does in all other matters. This assumption is the same as the old cliché of teaching a child to swim by tossing him into the water – it can work, but there is no guarantee, and at least one life is risked in the process.
Simply put, driving is dangerous. Even in Texas, a state renowned for treating people well, defensive driving is a necessity in order to get from one place to another. Anyone who is not prepared for dealing with the more hostile drivers will have a hard time even getting around.
Fortunately, it is never too late to learn what was previously neglected. There is no age limit on defensive driving classes. Experience is good, but careful instruction will make Experience more useful.