In Michigan, you see new drivers trying to keep control on icy roads and dealing with slush that makes it hard (if not impossible) to see lane markings.
In Colorado, you watch beginners adjust their speed on long downhill stretches and take wider turns on mountain roads.
Both states expect teens to learn the same basic skills, but that’s about it in terms of what they have in common.
The real difference (and issue) comes from the different types of roads and the different rules they have to follow in order to be able to drive alone.
Let’s d(r)ive in!
‘New Driver’ Licensing Rules
Before a new driver is allowed to drive solo, they have to learn the rules and regulations that come with driving, and depending on where you are – in this case, in Michigan and Colorado – these can be vastly different.
A Michigan new driver sharing their first-time experiences will have a different story to tell than one from Colorado.
That path is quite structured in Michigan, where young drivers have two education segments that break the learning process into stages, which makes the entire thing somewhat easier.
The first segment covers ‘basic’ driving; it ends with a written test. The drivers spend a predetermined number of (supervised) hours on the road before they can move on to the second segment. The second segment focuses on advanced driving skills/techniques.
Each step has an age requirement, and even after a teen gets their Level 2 license, they’re still limited in terms of late-night driving and how many passengers they can have.
The point of these rules is to slow the process down so that new drivers aren’t just thrown into complicated situations right away, but rather have time to experience a bit of casual, safe driving and combine all the theory with real-world experience.
This helps reduce the number of ‘new driver’-related accidents.
Colorado has a different approach.
There’s still a licensing and a permit stage, but the focus is more on the amount of supervised hours a teen completes than on formal classroom segments.
Families have to keep a driving log that tracks when and how long the teen practiced, and that log has to be accurate before the state allows the teen to test for a license. Once they pass, they also have restrictions during the first year, but the route to that point is more flexible.
What happens when you put a new driver from Michigan next ot one that just got their licence in Colorado, you’ll notice that the Michigan driver is all about structured education, while the Colorado driver is more about having a ‘free’ learning experience where they have much more flexibility in how they go about transferring the theoretical part to the road.
Neither state wants beginners to start their life as a driver with a traumatic experience or being required to find car accident injury claim guidance before they’re even allowed to drive at night without assistance.
Certainly, both states don’t fail in creating a good driving learning experience, but they definitely go about it in vastly different ways.
What Else Affects New Drivers
As important as rules and lessons are, that’s not where new drivers learn everything from.
The other part of the learning process comes from what the road throws at them, and that looks different in Michigan and Colorado.
Weather Conditions
The winters in Michigan are a challenge for every driver, no matter how much experience they have, so how could teens not struggle with them? Ice forms early on, with slush sitting in the middle of lanes.
There’s also freezing rain that can turn a basic drive into something stressful within moments. Visibility drops fast during lake-effect storms, and new drivers need more time to get familiarized with how the car reacts when the wheels lose grip.
Colorado’s weather is also unpredictable, but not in the same way.
Because of the mountains and higher elevation, storms can pop up quickly when moist air is pushed uphill, which means the weather can change faster than new drivers expect. The wind can push the car sideways, and the glare from the sun can be blinding once the storm clears out.
These changes make braking and steering a lot harder to manage, especially if you’re already struggling to stay calm behind the wheel.
Terrain and Road Layout
The roads are mostly flat in Michigan, which sounds easier, but it’s not without its own set of problems.
Rural grids can feel repetitive and make a new driver too confident, which is a big problem. On top of that, the bridges tend to ice faster than the rest of the road, and that can catch a beginner off guard and send them into panic.
Meanwhile, Colorado forces teens to think ahead. With all those mountain passes and narrow canyon roads, you need to pay attention to the road all the time.
And if you’re a beginner, you also have to think about managing speed on long downhill stretches and judging distance differently when the landscape changes in every direction.
Traffic Patterns and Driving Culture
Depending on where you are, traffic feels different.
Michigan’s suburban areas get very crowded during rush hours. You also have to think about those busy holiday weekends that turn highways into long stretches of stop-and-go driving. Here, new drivers have to learn how to handle tight merges and impatient drivers, as well as sudden lane changes.
Colorado has its own rhythm. Mountain routes are really popular with basically everyone, locals, tourists, seasonal visitors… Everybody loves them.
So, as you can imagine, the mix of driving styles and unfamiliar drivers creates a totally different type of pressure.
Conclusion
That first year behind the wheel seems so big, and that’s the same wherever you are (Michigan, Colorado, or anywhere else in the world).
Both Michigan and Colorado go about teaching their new drivers differently, but neither could be called ‘easier’ or ‘more difficult’. They’re different.
