Can I Put a Student Driver Sign on My Car
Just about every weekday, I drive into the News-Leader lot and see a parked black Ford Escape with a bumper sticker that says "Please Be Patient/Student Driver."
The car is near the building's entrance off of Tampa Street. This means the driver starts his or her day early, at least earlier than I typically do.
I've seen the bumper sticker for several months now. I forget how long a teenager is a student driver before getting a license, but it seems to me that time would have expired by now.
I was curious. Does the bumper sticker work? Are other drivers more patient?
And more skeptically: Is there really a student driver? Because if the bumper sticker actually makes other drivers more patient, where can I buy one?
Yes, there is a student driver, says Christine Holcomb. It's her 17-year-old stepson Jaycob.
Christine, 33, works in the Gannett Center for Credit and Collections here at the paper. She works 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., which is why she snags a prime parking space.
She put the bumper sticker on her Escape about a year ago, soon after Jaycob started to drive the vehicle — with her in the passenger seat.
Jaycob had asked for it, she says.
"He would get nervous if he took too long or if people tailgated him," she says.
"Especially if he took a second or two longer after the light changed and people would lay on the horn and freak him out."
Does it work? Are fellow drivers kinder? Has the bumper sticker made the world a better place?
Well, it works, she says.
"That is not happening anymore. It actually helps make people be more patient with him. There are fewer honks. Other drivers leave more space behind him."
Christine and her family live in Ozark. She drops off Jaycob at Ozark High School and has a 30-minute commute to the News-Leader. She spends a considerable amount of time alone in the Escape.
Are people more patient with you, too?
Again, the answer is Yes.
"I've noticed less road rage when I am driving," she tells me.
Jaycob plans to take his driver's test at the end of this month.
If he passes, Christine says, he will have his own vehicle — a 1990-something Dodge pickup left to him by his grandfather (Christine's father) who died in January of leukemia at age 54.
"They were thick as thieves," she says of Jaycob and her father.
I ask: And once Jaycob starts driving the pickup, the bumper sticker will come off the Escape?
But wait: Or will it?
After all, it seems to have a calming effect on other drivers even when Christine is driving the vehicle, even though she is not a student driver.
No, it will not come off, she tells me. But not because of the reason I suspected.
"On Nov. 28 my 14-year-old (stepson) will turn 15," she tells me.
These are the views of News-Leader columnist Steve Pokin, who has been at the paper seven years, and over his career has covered everything from courts and cops to features and fitness. He can be reached at 417-836-1253, spokin@gannett.com, on Twitter @stevepokinNL or by mail at 651 Boonville, Springfield, MO 65806.
More from Steve Pokin:
- Pokin Around: 17-year-old to run 100th marathon New Year's Day; dad thinks it's a record
- Pokin Around: Who painted those butterfly wings I keep seeing on Twitter and Facebook?
- Pokin Around: 'It was a generous thing for you to do'
Can I Put a Student Driver Sign on My Car
Source: https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2019/11/14/pokin-around-student-driver-bumper-sticker/4194807002/