TOMORROW'S DRIVERS

[Music] there goes mr. speed King himself passing on a curve and what's the matter lady I'm broken [Music] what's the big idea I put over there jack you need to hog the whole road lady lady lady that stop sign means you [Music] what you're saying is one of the most interesting and important experiments and driver education today and it proves that some people really do drive like six-year-olds for example most of our traffic and motor safety problems are created by a few childishly inconsiderate drivers drivers who play childish but dangerous games with everyone else on the road lady lady that stop sign means you if bad driving habits are childish when is the best time to learn to be a good citizen behind the steering wheel based on the old proverb that as the twig is bad so is the tree inclined at Garfield elementary school in Phoenix Arizona a new approach to driving safety education has been developed schoolchildren are learning about the automotive age before they learn their ABCs driver education begins soon after school open for kindergarten classes 1st 2nd 3rd grades first a magic safety show dramatizes the basic rules of safety each year's magic show is new and different wonderful to behold while they're watching the rabbit that comes out of the hat and the mysteriously changing stop sign even the smallest children learned that the big man and the blue uniforms are their friends the familiar games of kindergarten have been modernized to teach a life-saving lesson the meaning of stop and go first graders get out into the big wide world to learn by doing traffic lights traffic signs crosswalks become familiar through first-hand experience and as for jaywalking not these kids it seems that the younger we are the faster we can learn new things and it seems the earlier we learned something the more likely it is to become a part of our basic character almost every small child has the capacity for learning courtesy and sportsmanship and these are the simple basics of good driving attitudes on tabletops with tiny cars first graders learn an awareness of the rights of others and the need for rules and regulations to protect those rights at first it's hard to see why we have to stay on the right side of the road especially when we don't know right from left but safety consciousness is something that can be learned along with spelling and arithmetic and more fun too even though it means learning how to wait your turn with self-control good sportsmanship but toys are just toys there's nothing like the real thing and here's the real thing real tires with real air and um headlights at work the horn that blows this car mounted on blocks is called the Phoenix link trainer patterned after the famous aviation trainer on which so many pilots learn the fundamentals of flying without leaving the ground a while he's learning young mister a future driver may rack up quite a few wild going anywhere but one proud day there's that temporary driver's permit as a reward for all the hours of practice this is it even though it's only a beginner's driving course now first time behind the wheel of the one boy power automobile in motion but driving is a privilege that must be earned young Jimmy for example he got the idea that school was just about as bad as prison and maybe if he absolutely refused to study he might be sent home and then he found out that no school no driving today Jimmy isn't exactly a top student but he's in there trying with the help of the older students tomorrow's drivers learn how to take care of their cars before they drive on the Advanced Course the advanced driving course has just about everything that the American motorists encounters and is driving about town on a cross-country highways city streets crosswalks pedestrians traffic signals of policemen and of course country roads and detours [Music] everyone takes his turn at being driver pedestrian or policeman traffic violators get tickets and are brought to trial before a jury of the classmates now crime just doesn't pay this batch of hot rodders have had their licenses suspended for a day at a most impressionable time of life an important rule of society is learned laws are meant not to restrict but to protect for three years in the first second third grade children learn through actual experience the reason for safety laws they developed self confidence and the respect for the rights of others courtesy and cooperation and sportsmanship are practiced until they become habits once established these habits pay off and when tomorrow's drivers outgrow the small cars safety on two wheels is stressed in the Phoenix program in preparation for the day when actual driving instruction begins do you remember your first driving lesson there seemed to me so many things you had to learn all at once but this high school student has been driving since kindergarten days and now behind the wheel of a fine modern car can concentrate on becoming an expert and with a built in code of driving ethics she can soon become a responsible member of the driving community even the hotrod addict with his craving for speed is given a chance to release his youthful energies without injuring himself or others hot rod clubs organized and supervised by local and state police staged special races under established safety rules plenty of speed here but the boys themselves will drop a member for even a minor traffic violation that's a tougher sentence than a police judge Court or would impose while most teenagers behave themselves at the wheel now there always has to be someone who's the exception someone who hasn't learned that safety makes sense in the judges private chambers the juvenile traffic offender appears with his parents for a friendly but a serious discussion of his case if he has recklessly risked his own life and the lives of others his license is suspended and he's sent to Phoenix's attitude school for five to our classes in this attitude school state county and city police officers tell how laws and ordinances are passed by the people for their own common protection scientific tests and instruments are used to explain depth perception reaction time and muscular coordination and to emphasize the importance of booking where you're going of being on your toes of being careful written examinations bring out the fine points of driving and finally the attitude school students ride in patrol cars to see for themselves why safety is important in the past few years thousands of graduates of the school have had their licenses restored because their attitudes have changed to better understanding of their cars their laws and their policemen the parents and teachers and the police of Phoenix don't claim that they've found the perfect answer to the problem of educating drivers for tomorrow but they have shown what one community can do to help make streets and highways safer and more pleasant for all of us and here's an interesting sidelight for you to think about one of the least expected dividends of the program is an improvement in adult driving habits you see parents in setting good examples for their children learn to be safer drivers themselves they have to tomorrow's drivers won't excuse careless drivers [Music]