Now that Comply or Die has become the standard with American police, Illinois will begin teaching high school students how to conduct themselves during traffic stops to keep from being killed.
The mandatory training will go effect for the 2017 school year after it was signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner Friday.
The new measure states that students will now be taught “a demonstration of the proper actions to be taken during a traffic stop and appropriate interactions with law enforcement.”
Details of the law are scarce on [__the actual bill__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Illinois-Comply-or-Die-law.pdf) because it will be up to school officials to teach students how to comply to keep from dying.
According to the [__Chicago Tribune:__](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-rauner-legislative-roundup-0806-20160805-story.html)
> Students enrolled in driver’s education courses will be required to learn how to respond if they’re pulled over by police under a measure Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law Friday.
> The change is aimed at preventing teens from panicking or doing anything that may be interpreted as a red flag by police, which could lead to a standard traffic stop escalating into a more serious situation.
> “I think it’s really timely, so that teenagers and young drivers don’t look at a police officer as a threat or a problem,” said sponsoring Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield.
> “It’s just a part of driving, and if they respond in a responsible, correct way, it should never escalate.”
It will be difficult to teach students not to view cops as a threat when they are watching videos on YouTube daily that show officers to be the complete opposite.
But if they can teach them to keep their hands on the steering wheel until they are specifically ordered to produce their identification – or at least make it clear that they are recording with a camera and not holding a gun – then it might serve a purpose.
But wouldn’t it make more sense to train the cops not to panic over nervous drivers?
