On May 19, 2026, Washington state governor Bob Ferguson has signed house bill 1878 making it mandatory driver’s education requirement will expand beyond 16–17-year-olds to include anyone under 22 years old applying for their first license. This means anyone who is under the age of 22 has to go to driver’s school. This law will change the way many teens and adults will get their driver’s license in the state now since some choose to wait and turn 18 and take the test. But why is the reason for this? What impact does this have for people who live in Washington state. And would this help bring Washington car incidents down?
One of the main reasons why Washington passed this bill is to close the “Wait Until 18” loophole. Previously, driver’s education was only mandatory for teens under 18. Many teens simply waited until their 18th birthday to get a license, bypassing all professional instruction. This leads drivers on the road to have almost zero formal training in defensive driving, scanning for hazards, or state traffic laws. This could put many drivers with experience in danger. Data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission showed that young drivers (18–25) who skipped driver’s education had a 70% higher rate of fatal or injury crashes than those who took it. And this might be why Washington ranks 5th place on worst divers in U.S states. And data shows that 18-year-old drivers were found to be 50% more likely to crash during their first year on the road compared to those who received formal instruction.
“If you know what the rules are, and you know the ways you can deal with icy roads or low-visibility conditions, you’re automatically going to be in a better position when you face those on the roads,” Rep. Brandy Donaghy stated.
“For 18 to 25-year-olds who had not taken driver education, they had more than a 60% higher rate of crash involvement,” said Mark McKechnie, External Relations Director for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
But would this new law lower accident rates in Washington? And what do students who don’t have their driver’s license right now think about all this?
“I think its dumb. People driving without a license will probably increase. It doesn’t fix the actual problem of the incidents. But I guess I’ll have to get my license now,” Pasco High Student Fabian Garcia said.
“I don’t think raising the age will do anything to be honest. Other than I now have to go pay even more to get my license now. If anything, kids are probably just drive without license more,” added student Aaron Galarza.
“I can see what they are trying to do but I don’t think it will work,” said student Cristobal Rebolledo. “Or maybe it will, who knows.”
It seems some PHS students may not agree with this new law change and think that it won’t change much other than them paying for drivers’ school instead of just paying to take the driver’s test. Whether this new law will benefit Washington state by decreasing accidents rates will be determined in the future. But for now, it seems students are unhappy with the state’s choice.
