BLAIRSVILLE--With school boards constantly looking to trim their budgets every year, and more electives popping up while others are eliminated, driver's education in public schools today seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Instructors from two area school districts that still offer a driver's education program--Homer-Center and Derry Area--remain adamant that the task of developing teenagers into safe and responsible drivers is a weighty one. United and Indiana Area also provide driver's ed courses.

Pennsylvania data has shown that male drivers ages 16 to 20 are involved in more crashes than drivers in any other age group, male or female--accounting for 20,299 accidents in the most recent ...