TRAVERSE CITY — Ongoing construction in Traverse City, coupled with a car crash last week where a student driver was rear-ended, has the owner of a driving school asking people to pump the brakes.
Co-owner Ashley Ingraham from Drive My Way said that people in Traverse City have been driving too aggressively, and she’s concerned for the safety of her students.
“It’s annoying to think that people see the student driver in bright yellow letters, the flashing lights that we put on top of our vehicles, and they still don’t exercise any caution around us,” said Ingraham.
She says for the majority of her students, it’s their first time putting rubber to the road.
“A lot of kids, they’ve driven around a parking lot, maybe a subdivision, but usually it’s, “I’ve moved my mom’s car up and down the driveway, maybe around a parking lot.’ That’s it,” said Ingraham.
She said just last week a student driver was rear-ended as a result of aggressive driving.
“The car that was supposed to be second to go at the stop sign cut us off because my students are slow to react, and my student braked because they had just started to roll forward. And then the car behind us rear-ended us lightly,” said Ingraham.
She said there’s been several accidents through the years, but it’s never caused by her students.
Ingraham said people need to use caution when they are driving near one of their clearly marked vehicles with lights.
“We go the speed limit, maybe a little bit below. Kids try not to go over because we get after them for it and the cars behind us fly up on us because their normal drivers are going over the speed limit in Traverse City,” said Ingraham.
She said drivers need to expect the unexpected.
“[Student drivers] immediately want to stab the brake. They get confused. They want to stab the brake. They want to slow down and talk about it...They shouldn’t be slowing down when lane changing, but they’re new,” said Ingraham.
14-year-old student driver Ethan Norris said he feels confident, but worries about the reaction from other drivers.
“I’ve heard a few stories from Ashley about some people not being very nice to the drivers. I’m more of a not-so-great driver, and some people might get more angry at me,” Norris.
Ingraham said it’s surprising that adults treating kids in the community this way, and that yelling, honking, driving aggressively or flipping off a student driver won’t help them drive better.
“Tailgating them, honking at them, doesn’t teach them to go faster. It scares them and makes them go slower. It’s contradictory,” said Ingraham.
