The Modern Driver Institute was founded in 2014 by Michael Mercadante, a traffic safety expert, educational psychologist, professional driving instructor and Driving Rehabilitation Specialist who sought a new way to teach driver education.
Driving has fundamentally changed over the last few decades, but driver’s education has been the same since the 1950’s. Most driving instructors still focus the bulk of their efforts on building physical skills, an outdated teaching model based upon older vehicles that were largely manually operated. Many driving instructors still teach steering techniques that have been made obsolete by changing automotive technologies decades ago.
Driving is no longer a mostly physical task. Today’s cars require little physical effort to operate. Instead, modern drivers need to be trained in the cognitive and behavioral skills needed to keep themselves safe in a road environment that is ever more crowded with drivers who are ever more distracted.
That’s the focus of the Modern Driver Institute – we’re teaching our students the cognitive, behavioral and physical skills needed to survive on our modern roadways.
The MDI mission will eventually unfold in three ways:
- Training and education at the regional level
- Educational outreach (through materials development) globally
- Institutional research in the field of driver safety
