Road test waiver program called into question as reckless driving increases in Milwaukee

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Defensive driving is often the first thing teenagers learn in drivers ed, but with the number of reckless driving cases increasing throughout Milwaukee, one pandemic change for road test requirements is being called into question.

"I'm going to take drivers education, I'm going to do my six behind the wheel, my six months is up, I'm going to have my parents sign because they know they can't pass that road test," said Stevie Davis, long-time driving instructor at Easy Method Driving school on the city's north side.

Davis has been a drivers ed instructor for nearly 18 years.

"Look left, look right, check your rear view, glance down at your speedometer, you should be at 30," said Davis.

Davis said he's seen it all. "When they gone beat you, they gone beat you, they aren’t gone wait, understand that. I study how they drive," said Davis.

Davis called into question the road test waiver program, a waiver put in place by the state for first-time drivers at the start of the pandemic.

The policy allows drivers ages 16 to 18 to get their probationary license without a traditional road test. Davis said it should have never been a long-term solution.

The instructor is now on a mission to equip his students with tactics which could save their lives.

"If you don’t learn to move your head, I tell my students if you don’t move your head, you end up dead," said Davis.

Important lessons to remember at every turn.

"You can tell them, but you can't make them do it. But if they want to keep living longer, this going to help them live longer if they think this way," said Davis.