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Two days ago, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc., received two identical press releases from different sources for a company stating that: "traffic school and defensive driving courses are very easy." And they also wrote that one could do a course: "with out attending to the boring class in the weekends." [sic]

Who could fail to notice the wonderful grammar in that last excerpt?

In just the ten lines of text in their short press release, these people managed to make no less than 26 errors of grammar and spelling, and they also dismissed classes which could save lives as being "boring." At one point, they even managed to misspell their own URL!

Next, these semi-literate people will be telling us that they are into online driver training in order to help save lives, but in reality of course their only motivation will be profit.

And that brings us to the key issue:  Who on earth came up with the idea that any driving -- let alone what these people brazenly and asininely call defensive driving skills -- can be taught online?

Can they really?  Well maybe somebody could teach us all, online, to be astronauts too!

In our opinion, there is little in the world that could be more pathetic than the suggestion that an online course -- which, of course, the next-door-neighbor's kid could do for you -- is a suitable punishment or a viable re-education, following a traffic offence or misdemeanor.

Advanced simulators for driving skills may be one thing, but apart from straightforward theory questions, there is clearly nothing that anyone can learn about actual driving from a personal computer.

Making traffic offenders read a book then take a written examination, supervised by a proctor, would undeniably be a more reliable method of achieving the desired result and could be much more effectively audited to prevent cheating of any sort. Centers that currently offer compulsory theory sessions prior to people taking their first driving test would appear to be ideal for this purpose.

Ensuring high national standards for all professional driving instructors would be the first necessity if any compulsory- course type of remedy were ever to become effective at reducing future crashes and re-offending. Then, having achieved that goal, one could ensure that all deserving offenders had to get behind the wheel of a proper driving school car and be obliged to re-learn the actual skill of driving in the only place one can truly learn driving skills -- behind the wheel of a car, under supervision!

It would cost money???  Yes, of course it would -- the money of the person who has done something dangerous in order to deserve such remedial punishment -- but that would be stunningly less money (not to mention the grief) that every fatal crash costs American society.

The blame for the current "learn to drive on your own computer" and "find an easy way to cheat" scenarios undeniably lies at the door of the politicians (and their advisers) who have made such a worthless situation possible. The whole issue flies in the face of common sense and safety.

Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc.