It will almost certainly be challenging to teach your child to drive. Much since the invention of automobiles, parents have been apprehensive of a teenager operating behind the wheel. On the other hand, driving is a vital skill that adolescents must learn.
Teaching your kid to be a responsible and safe driver will be a crucial lesson they will need as they transition to adulthood. So, even if you want to argue that your child isn’t old enough to drive independently, you must acknowledge the vital role in an adult’s day-to-day living.
Becoming a Teacher
According to statistics, teenagers are more prone to engage in serious vehicle accidents than adults. So, it’s more important than ever to provide them with in-depth driving lessons to avoid these circumstances.
Here are some pointers on how to educate an adolescent to drive without getting lost in your mind.
Start with the Basics
Always double-check that your training sessions are suitable for your child’s current competence level. It means focusing on the fundamentals during the first few sessions.
So, before you allow them to drive, you have to make sure that your child feels at ease while behind the wheel. It is best to provide them with a car tour and point out all the parts and their functions.
Choose Your Location
Your first sessions should take place in a vacant parking area or a comparable setting. Beginning in an empty lot allows your child to practice initiating, steering, and stopping the vehicle at various speeds without fear of breaking anything. As they improve their level, you can add traffic cones which further sharpens their navigation skills.
Make a Route
Once you find that your teen is ready to immerse on the road, map out a route they need to drive across. Because it’s their first time to experience the new terrain, consider a road that they can easily navigate. It’s best if you can provide them with as much predictability and structure as possible.
It would be best if you stayed off of highways and busy roads. Especially for first-timers, It can be tough to avoid other vehicles.
Drive at All Conditions
Don’t overlook the significance of driving in heavy rain or with limited sight. Allow your child to experience operating in these scenarios under your supervision. Instead of skipping sessions when it’s pouring, snowy, or as the sun sets, make it a learning opportunity that will enhance their real-life driving exposure.
Increase Difficulty
After they’ve become used to driving around your house, introduce them to more challenging roads and traffic situations. Once they start going on their own, they should experience navigating on the expressway, crowded city neighborhoods, and curving, twisting routes.
Essential Reminders When Teaching
Provide Insights
Determine the skills your child must learn and master throughout each class. Point out their bad habits, and let them find ways to improve their skills. If they find it challenging to get rid of a bad technique, focus on that particular task and let them sharpen their expertise before moving to another lesson.
Remove Distractions
It’s crucial to remove unwanted distractions from your teen’s driving lessons so that you can both remain focused on your goal. Avoid playing music, and keep devices out of sight.
Even if you aren’t the one driving, you will serve as your child’s additional set of eyes until they manage to see vehicles and hazards independently. It would help if you also predicted your child’s actions so you can assist them whether they need to make a turn or come to a complete stop at a road intersection.
Don’t Raise Your Voice
People make mistakes. While you can’t stop things from happening, you can choose how you respond to them. When communicating and interacting with your child, avoid raising your voice. It will simply irritate them, which will not improve their driving skills.
Prepare Your Vehicle
Fixing your car before your training sessions is an important activity to keep in mind. One of the most common causes of deadly accidents is machine parts wearing out or in poor shape. That said, make sure your vehicle is in good working condition before letting your teen take the wheel. If your brakes aren’t functioning correctly, you must first get a Subaru brake service before going back to the road.
Watching videos or reading books won’t teach your teen how to drive. You must let them practice behind the wheel and start logging the miles. According to the CDC, teens should experience at least thirty hours of supervised driving in six months before they can be left alone on the road.
Thus, the more experience your kid can get while driving with you, the safer they’ll be as they start driving independently.
