- Be alert. Pay attention to driving and limit or don’t use a cell phone to speak or worse yet to text while driving.
- Wear a seat belt. Most fatalities fro teenagers are caused as a result of not wearing a seat belt. It is better to be “uncool” and wear a belt than have to attend your funeral because you didn’t.
My best driving tips for teens that I would pass on are: always look where you are driving (from instructor), in bad snow just pretend you’re driving a boat (friend), and “watch out for the other guy” (TV ad campaign). Don’t get your parents to teach you to drive - pay for lessons - save yourselves and your parents a nervous breakdown - however, once you get your licence I think its a good idea for your parents to make you drive everywhere while they watch you (if your parents can stand it).
I don’t think that 16 year olds are too irresponsible to get a licence - farm kids drive tractors when they’re 10. My parents didn’t want me to get my licence (or a job) so I didn’t get my licence till I was 25. I was cautious at first, but then I got pretty reckless - speeding and passing - it took a few VERY close calls (and tickets) for me to smarten up- fortunately, I had no accidents. I’ve driven with people in their 30’s who were even worse than I was - passing on a double yellow line, driving while impaired, etc. I don’t think anyone should buy a teen a car - they should have to buy it themselves - wouldn’t recommend a pick-up though - because they are considered a “work” vehicle they have very few safety codes that protect the driver in a crash. Lots of places are making driving while using a cell phone illegal - it should be that way everywhere.
In the 60’s there was a supplement to high school driving “school” that was held at the local college. So good, parents got a discount off their insurance if their teen passed this 2-3 day course. It began with a film of horrible car crashes and what would happen to you/others if you hit something at 40, 50 60 mph. After getting their attention, the finer points were better received. ALAS, today there are no courses like that, not even chauffeur schools (perhaps truck driving academy?) and the last HS teacher was talking on her cell to her sister while screaming at the student driver! This resulted in many wrecks, time & money down the drain with that kid.
The best teen drivers in our family:
a) learned to ride a bike - and used it frequently
2) encouraged/forced to mow on a lawn tractor
c) allowed to drive anything with a steering wheel, even if only in a field or empty parking lot
4) took the HS driving course - at least once
V) performed checkout rides + extra instruction from both parents - and any other relatives with a death wish; passengers were often heard whimpering “we are going to die” in the back seat - proper response is "you crybaby!"
f) surviving students still wanting to drive do NOT get a car given them; they may drive a dedicated parent’s 1st (or better 2nd) beater car (bright color, high visibility truck is better) - so long as they maintain adequate grades, participate in a sport/active club activity & pursue their religion. If they also have a job, they contribute to gas & tires.
Your new operator license is like a student pilot license: It allows you to solo within geographic bounds. Until endorsed by your parents it does not allow you to:
Carry passengers
Go beyond bounds your parents set
Drive at night
Play the radio or any other entertainment device in the car
Use a cell phone for conversation or texting while driving (your parents will never allow this)
Your parents will evaluate your driving and behavior monthly and allow increased driving privileges as you earn them.
Parents, make sure your teen understands these rules before thy pass their driver test; then they will not be disappointed after the test.
Finally, parents, once your teens have their license, let them drive when you are in the car. That will enhance their self-esteem and give your a chance to monitor their driving habits.
Rule #1: Do NOT Drink & Drive. Period!
I’m serious; you &/or your best friend could end up on a cold slab.
Apologies in advance for the length of this posting. I had written this for South Florida Parenting and Coconut Creek Life, local periodical and magazine, respectively.
In addition to this lengthy list, I also advise doing what I did: I introduced both sons to autocrossing, also known as Solo II, which is insurance-wise classified as a non-speed competition. You can find lots about autocrossing via the 'net.
Hope you find this useful:
As parents, we?re always concerned with our children?s safety. Of course we all dread the time our youngsters reach their middle teen years. We know they will be exposed to additional dangers as they venture out in the world. Of these dangers, one of the most serious is arguably their newfound independence in the form of driving.
So, what can we do to allay our fears and instill in our novice drivers good driving sense? Here are some tips we can easily impart to our newbie teen drivers.
Look ahead ? it?s so, so easy to watch the just car ahead. Most experienced adult drivers don?t look far enough ahead. Eyes should always be scanning, looking at the car ahead, through that car?s window to the cars beyond, four, five blocks down the road, scanning for traffic and obstacles as intersections are approached.
Be aware ? when we speak of being aware, it?s not just of the cars in front. It involves taking inventory. Think to yourself ?OK, the blue Honda is to my right, behind me. The beige Toyota is in front to my left. The red Corvette is directly behind me, and in my rearview the ice-blue minivan is closing from the far right lane?. Continually scanning and keeping inventory guarantees that when an evasive maneuver is required, a clear path is already apparent without having to spend precious microseconds finding it.
Always have an ?out? ? always try to have no other cars directly beside you. If you?re beside a car for half a block or more, slow down or speed up to have empty space beside you. It?s easier in most cases to avoid a situation by turning than it is by stopping.
Leave enough following distance ? most drivers don?t leave enough distance in front. Combining an adequate following distance with being aware of what?s going on ahead eliminates the need for abrupt evasive action. Not having to make an abrupt stop also can prevent getting hit from the rear, even if you don?t hit the car in front.
Make eye contact ? when approaching intersections where there is traffic merging or otherwise becoming part of your direction?s flow, ensure the other drivers see you. If not sure, assume they don?t and anticipate the other drivers will do something stupid. It?s usually unnecessary, but always being on the alert for someone to do something untoward will prepare you for when another driver actually does it.
Control your emotions ? never let the actions of another driver influence you. If they other guy does indeed do something aggressive, don?t retaliate or get angry. Just think ?oh, that guy?s life is so miserable, he needs to drive that way to feel a bigger person. I?m better than that.?
Keep speeds down ? Of course, you knew this was coming. Most people don?t realize it, but if you calculate how much time speeding actually saves, it becomes apparent it?s not worth it. Here?s an example. Take a 30-mile commute on a highway. How much time do you think is saved going 80 MPH vs. 70 MPH? The savings is only just over three minutes. Shorter trips save even less. Thinking of it that way, it?s not really worth the ticket, or increased risk of an accident, is it?
Consider attending a high-performance driving school ? knowing how to control a car at its limits not only teaches what a car can do, but more importantly what a car can?t do. The margin of error is a lot smaller than we think it is, and the only way to find out is to step over the line. And the only way to do that is in a controlled environment, being professionally instructed.
One last thing, parents, it?s usually not a great idea to teach your own children how to drive. Professionals are exactly that, professionals trained to instruct. Besides, the habits your children inherit may be your own. As much as our egos might tell us otherwise, most of us aren?t really good enough drivers to be instructing impressionable teens to drive.
Keeping your distance will be the most important early habit. To enforce this, my dad’s boss would give his kids an ignition key but kept the trunk key for himself. In the trunk was a jar of mercury. If the jar was found to be tipped over, for any reason or no reason, the driver lost the key for a period of time. Of course this also eliminated enthusiastic acceleration, hard turns, etc. Knowing that jar was back there gave the kids the needed awareness of momentum. This way the kids became their own judge so the dad didn’t have to be a nag.
Kid, you are going to have an accident sometime in the next year. You are going to drive about 10 or 20 mph faster than you think you are driving, you aren’t going to be paying attention to what’s around you or what all those other old fuddy duddies are doing on the road, and you’re going to hit something or something is going to hit you. Please have your seat belt on when it happens!
This for parents teaching a teen or anyone to drive a stick shift: instruct trainee
to keep his/her right foot off of the throttle and left foot depressing the clutch to
the floor. Now, have trainee slowly let the clutch out. If the car stalls, tell
trainee to do it again but slower. Once trainee can do this successfully, have trainee
do it at least 10 times. Begin each training session the same way for several sessions.
But, with drinking comes the COMPLETE AND UTTER LOSS OF LOGIC.
An absolute conundrum when expecting anyone to realize that they shouldn’t. And a major confrontaion when attempting to convince anyone that they shouldn’t.
I don’t drink, and oddly enough never have. But I have worked inside bars every weekend for the past 35 years. There is NO talking logic to a drunk and almost never to someone who’s only ‘had a few’.
As right and logical as we all know it is, The biggest challenge for all the rest of us is actually getting it practiced by all.
I don’t have children myself, but my parents didn’t allow any of us four kids to get our licenses until we were at least 17. I graduated from high school when I was 17, and my parents didn’t feel that I was responsible enough to get a license until after I’d graduated. In retrospect, I wasn’t. My brother was 18 when he got his license, and he promptly bought himself an old Rambler and took exquisite care of it. My younger sister was 21+ when she learned to drive and got her license. None of us have had accidents that were our fault or got tickets for moving violations. So I think having teen drivers start driving without an adult in the car when they’re 17 is better than 16. When I was 16 I was way too immature to be trusted with a car, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Try to keep a lot of space between you and the car in front of you. This will give you more time to react if the car in front of you stops fast. Also you may get rear ended but the front of your car, where all the important stuff is will not get damaged.
Don’t play the odds. Turning when I was “pretty sure” nothing was coming cost me a '66 Mustang.
Caution. Scanning. Caution. Caution. Expect the worst, and prepare for it.
When my daughters were learning to drive, with me as their teacher (generally a BAD idea, but I was, in fact, a teacher)I would sit next to them, with my hand on the steering wheel, reminding them to keep theirs in the 2/10 position. When they would drift out of the center of the lane, I would manually correct it. It seems that it worked. And then a bunch of other stuff I’ll leave out to keep this brief.
Love your show. Jim Hurst, Prescott, AZ
PS: there was occasional yelling (shame, shame!)
Speaking as a driver who is all too familiar with the annoying mother in the passenger seat, I’ve found that you can avoid arguments if you continually talk about what’s going through your mind (like listing off every sign you see and everything you’re doing about it). Your mother won’t tell you incessantly about every single stop sign you see and every time you’re speeding a bit if you tell her about it first.
One important thing I tell my daughters is: Knowing how to operate a vehicle is not the same as knowing how to drive. They are two simultaneous but separate processes. Operating a vehicle involves accelerating, braking, steering, and otherwise controlling your machine. Driving, on the other hand, involves interacting with other vehicles and traffic, calculating safe trajectories, anticipating risk, and making lots of responsible choices.
I agree with many of the other posters, who stress practice, and who recommend professional driving school. I like to think that I?m a good instructor, but I know that I don?t have the patience or objectivity of a professional instructor. Unfortunately, I learned to drive from my dad, who was not a particularly good driver himself, and who lacked the patience of a good instructor. As a result, I probably ignored much of what he said, and used the ?school of hard knocks? to learn to become a responsible driver. Lastly, I would remind teens that, ?Driving is cool, but surviving is cooler.?
Don’t drive until you are 25.
I told my boys to always hestitate a moment just as the light turns green, so that way you let all the red light runners go through and you won’t get hit.
Also, bike lanes - I’m from a city where a lot of people bike to work, so I told them to always check the right lane for bikers before turning right.
And don’t rely on your side view mirrors to check the lane before moving into it --there are still small cars out there that you cannot see in that rear view mirror. Check the mirrors, and take a quick glance. There could also be people driving in your blind spot.
My sons also didn’t start driving until they were 18.
Parents should set a good example, such as stopping at the stop sign, buckling up, not speeding, not tailgaiting, not using a cell phone while driving, using turn signals, etc.
It would not hurt for the Parent(s) to get the State’s Driving Manual and review it also. Here in New Mexico, as I am sure in other places, some Parents should not be teaching their kids how to drive, until they drive better. All kids see how their parents drive, and will usually follow their example (good or bad).
Thanks
Randy The Cook