An exciting (and nerve-wracking!) time is teaching your teen to drive. From showing your teen a way to properly adjust all their mirrors, to mapping out a collection route before you begin driving, we’ll cover the highest safety tips to follow so you and your teen stay safe while they’re behind the wheel.
Among the foremost dreaded parenting experiences—right up there with potty training and your child’s first day of school—is teaching your teenager to drive. But the maximum amount as you’ll want to deny that your son or daughter is sufficiently old to achieve the pedals, including getting a license, it’s important that you just recognize the essential role you play in their driving education.
Roadside assistance companies can attest to this facet: teens are 3 times more likely than adults 20 and older to be involved during a fatal car crash. By taking their driving lessons seriously, you can help them avoid becoming another statistic.
When teaching your teenager to drive, here are seven safety tips to follow.
1. Master the Fundamentals
Always confirm your lessons are appropriate for your son or daughter’s current skill level. For your first few lessons, which means teaching the fundamentals.
Before you permit your teen to drive, it’s important that they become comfortable sitting behind the wheel. Provides a tour of the vehicle, including the gas and brake pedals, turn signals, dashboard controls, and emergency. You must also show them the way to adjust their mirrors, and where they must place their hands on the wheel. Your teen should be ready to repeat everything back to you before you place the keys within the ignition.
Your first lesson should be in an empty car parking zone or someplace similar. By starting in an empty lot, your son or daughter can practice starting, turning, and stopping the car at different speeds without having to stress about hitting anything. Once they are able to navigate obstacles, start with traffic cones.
2. Map Your Route
Know where you’ll be driving before you embarked on along with your teen, particularly if it’s one amongst their first lessons. Your child is navigating unfamiliar territory behind the wheel and doing everything for the very first time, all the while knowing that one little error they create could have tragic consequences. The more structure and predictability you’ll provide them, the better.
Plus, if they’re just starting out, you’ll want to avoid freeways and congested roads that will be above their skill level. If you don’t know where exactly you’re going, it may well be difficult to avoid these areas.
3. Identify the Talents You’ll Work On
Just like you ought to plan your route before each lesson, you ought to also identify the talents your teen will practice during each session. Maybe it’s left-hand turns or parallel parking. Consider these as you map where you’ll be driving; if it’s left-hand turns you wish your child to master, ensure there is plenty on your route.
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4. Minimize Distractions
When your teen is learning to drive, it’s important that you simply eliminate unnecessary distractions in order that everyone, including you, can stay focused on the road. Keep phones out of sight and don’t play music. That has your phone, too.
While you will not be the one driving, you’re your child’s second pair of eyes until they learn the way to seem for cars and obstacles themselves. You must even be constantly anticipating your child’s next move in order that you’ll guide them once they must switch lanes or stop at an upcoming stoplight. Telling your new driver to merge at the minute because you were texting will likely cause them to panic.
5. Don’t Raise Your Voice
Mistakes will happen. While you can’t prevent them, you’ll control how you react to them. Don’t raise your voice when speaking along with your teen or say general statements like, “You aren’t taking this seriously.” it’ll only upset them, which won’t help them drive any better.
Instead, signifies specific behaviors and mistakes like, “Next time, you ought to signal earlier.” And, always speak with a relaxed voice—even if you simply barely avoided a crash or if your teen is shouting at you.
6. Practice Driving All Styles of Conditions
Don’t underestimate the importance of learning a way to drive in inclement weather or with poor visibility. Instead of skipping your lessons when it’s raining, snowing, or as soon as the sun sets, allow your teen to practice driving in these conditions along with your supervision.
When they become comfortable driving around your home, incorporate tougher roads and traffic conditions. They ought to practice driving on the highway, on congested city streets, and on curvy, winding roads before they begin driving independently.
7. Let Your Teen Practice As Often As They Want
You can’t learn the way to drive by reading a book or watching a video; you’ve got to log miles behind the wheel. The CDC recommends that teens have a minimum of 30 to 50 hours of supervised driving experience over a six-month fundamental quantity.
A driver’s license doesn’t necessarily mean that a young person has mastered every aspect of driving. In simulated driving tests, licensed teen drivers are still way more likely to crash than licensed adult drivers. The more your child can practice with you though, the safer they’ll be after they start driving on their own.