You’re more likely to fail your driver’s license test in Missouri than in nearly every other state in the country.

In fact, you’re more likely to fail your test than you are to pass it.

When Missourians line up to take the written test before getting their learner’s permit, only 39% will get a passing score . Compare that to Kansas, where 76% pass the test.

One reason for such poor performance? Missouri is one of just 10 states that do not require any driver to take driver’s education classes before getting behind the wheel.

Road safety advocates say that makes car crashes more frequent and more dangerous. And Kansas City has one of the highest car crash fatality rates in the country. Nearly 100 people died in Kansas City car crashes in 2024 .

In the city’s quest to bring that number down to zero by 2030, getting teenagers into driving classes is one piece of the puzzle.

A proposed Missouri bill would require all public high school students — drivers and nondrivers alike — to get lessons in driver’s ed as a part of the mandatory health class. Those classes would not necessarily include behind-the-wheel practice.

“The number of young people that are involved in car crashes, many of them have been fatal,” said Rep. Rodger Reedy, a Republican from Windsor, southeast of Kansas City. “I see it as a public safety issue.”

Dangers facing teen drivers

Since 2022, Kansas City has devoted millions of dollars toward the prevention of deadly car crashes through its Vision Zero program.

The goal is to eliminate car crash deaths and serious injuries by 2030 . It’s an ambitious goal, but it’s possible. The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, hasn’t seen a deadly car crash in eight years.

As part of its Vision Zero program, Kansas City has pushed for road diets , red-light cameras and other ways of slowing cars to achieve that goal.

Driver’s education is another piece of that puzzle.

“We all play a part in making safer streets,” said Bailey Waters, Kansas City’s chief mobility officer, “so we could all benefit from educating ourselves more and educating each other on being safer drivers and safer users.”

Teen drivers are at particularly high risk for car crashes in Missouri. In 2023, 133 people died in crashes involving a teen driver — and two-thirds of those who died were someone other than the teenager.

Drivers aged 16-20 make up 6% of the state’s licensed drivers, but they accounted for 15% of fatal crashes in 2023.

Taylor March, executive director of Missourians for Responsible Transportation, said that implementing driver’s ed is one evidence-backed way to bring those numbers down.

A 2017 study of nearly 100,000 teenage drivers in Oregon found that the ones who took driver’s education classes were 4% less likely to get in a crash and 39% less likely to get a traffic-related conviction.

“People just don’t know the rules of the road,” he said. “It’s not necessarily that they’re acting maliciously or anything, but people just don’t seem to know common driving practices.”

Kansas City’s Vision Zero study advocates for making driver’s education more accessible for teenagers, as well as setting up volunteer programs for licensed adults to help permitted drivers reach the 40-hour practice requirement.

What would those driver’s ed classes look like?

Some Missouri drivers do take driver’s education, often at community colleges, as a way to get discounted car insurance rates. But there is no requirement under Missouri law.

Other states — such as Georgia, Iowa and Michigan — require classes for drivers who are less than 18 years old. Fourteen states — including Louisiana, Texas, Ohio and Minnesota — require drivers of all ages to take some form of driver’s education before they can get a license.

The Missouri proposal takes a slightly different approach — all Missourians would be required to take a driver’s ed course to get a high school diploma. That means that even pedestrians who never intend on driving would be taught the rules of the road.

“Even if those kids never get a driver’s license, they might buy a bike,” March said. “Unless they read the driver’s book, they never learn the rules of the road.”

Leah Shahum, a traffic safety expert who heads the national Vision Zero Network, said driver’s ed nationally has been lagging. But she said basic traffic safety lessons can make a big difference.

“This is an opportunity to help people understand the very weighty responsibility that comes with operating a motor vehicle,” she said. “A lot of people don’t understand, for instance, the very big difference between driving 25 miles per hour versus 35 miles per hour.”

If a pedestrian is hit at 30 miles per hour, they have a 20% chance of death . At 40 miles per hour, that more than doubles to a 46% chance.

She said students also could learn how to scan intersections for pedestrians, including children or seniors, who might be slower to cross the road.

“We can’t assume that these very young people have that kind of experience and knowledge yet,” she said.

Reedy, the bill’s sponsor, would like driver’s education classes to help students understand what they should do if a police officer pulls them over for a traffic stop.

“Your first impulse would be to dig in your glove box,” he said, “which is the wrong thing to do.”

March and Shahum also see a high school driver’s ed class as an opportunity to start integrating some transit or bicycle education. That could particularly help teens in more urban areas and those who have no interest in getting a license. That would be in addition to driver’s education, not replacing it.

“You don’t want to lose the safe driving component, because folks are going to drive,” Shahum said. “(But) let’s not assume this is the only way that people are getting around.”

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