If you go to the MVD Express with your parents and ask for a learner's permit, you will be told that in the state of New Mexico anyone under the age of 18 is required to take a commercial driver's education course first. Once this course is completed at a state-approved driving program, you will receive a learner's permit.

According to the State of New Mexico's official MVD website, it is one of many states that implemented the Graduated Driver Licensing Law, a program which has three stages. The first is the "Learner Stage" where teens get their learner's permit and must be supervised while driving; the second is the "Intermediate Stage" where supervised driving is limited in high-risk situations; and the third is the "Full Privilege Stage" where teens are allowed a driver's license.

The rules during those stages are as follows: You must keep the learner's permit for a minimum of six months and log 50 hours of driving time, 10 of which must be at night. A provisional license then must be kept for at least a year and doesn't allow driving between midnight and 5 a.m. and doesn't allow more than one person under the age of 21 in the car unless an adult is present. Once all these steps are complete, you will be able to obtain a full driver's license.

Each year, many teens begin this path to freedom by enrolling in a driver's education course. Naomi Salazar, the owner of Chamisa School of Driving, explains that their course is $325 for 30 hours in the classroom and seven hours of behind-the-wheel training.

"It takes two hours a day for three weeks during the school year, and three hours a day for two weeks in the summer," Salazar added. "We like to train our kids out on the streets where actual traffic is occurring. We do not do driving simulators."

Lorena Robertson, the owner and manager of TLC Driving School, said TLC's course is $380 for 30 hours of classroom time and seven hours behind the wheel instruction.

Classes for TLC run Monday through Thursday and are three hours in two weeks in the summer and two hours a week during the school year.

When asked whether or not she thinks students are satisfied with TLC's course, Robertson said, "Absolutely, we have been the highest recommended driving school for 17 years. We have plenty of cars to teach them in and we give them what they paid for. At the end of classes we have them fill out questionnaires and we get very high ratings."

Anne-Marie Little, 15, said that TLC "was really good. Most of the instructors where really nice. One teacher rambled on a lot telling stories but he was still a good teacher."

However, Anne-Marie said she was left wanting a little bit more. "I think (the course) could've been a little longer though because it was a lot of money and for kids who have never driven it wasn't enough time," she said. "Also, there could have been more driving time and less classroom time."

Anne-Marie also said her favorite thing was "range driving. They took us out to Santa Fe High's visitor's parking lot and set up cones. We got in the cars by ourselves and did exercises like parallel parking, 'S' turns and weaving."

A student who wished to remain anonymous said that TLC's course was "more like paying almost $400 for a learner's permit than a class. Our teacher couldn't get a point across without interrupting himself with a new point or a pointless story," he said. "The classroom was sort of dirty and cramped and we had to use the California training video. Of all the driving instructors there was only one really competent one. My first instructor was all right and my second one didn't speak much English but it was OK. I've heard stories about people being taken out on the highway the very first time they are driving though."

Everyone has their own opinion of driver's ed but no one knows why it is required for sure.

New Mexico is just one of 25 states which require teens to take driver's ed. Each state has its own rules. Texas, for example, requires teens to take driver's ed but their parents also can teach them from approved material.

The Governors Highway Safety Association website explains that in the United States there is a very high crash rate for teenagers.

A recent article on the Reader's Digest website says more than 5,000 teens die in car accidents each year and that car accidents are the No. 1 killer of teens. New Mexico got a "fair" rating in this article, meaning the state needs improvement but isn't bad.

The GDL law is simply trying to make sure that even fewer teens die in car accidents each year. Teens must work out for themselves how to feel about driver's ed. They can decide whether it's simply an annoying, expensive class they are being forced to take or a beneficial learning experience designed to keep them safe.

Marielle Dent is a sophomore at Academy for Technology and the Classics. You can contact her at onyx-13@hotmail.com.