Help Your Teen Driver Get Ready for the Road
As a parent it is a perfectly normal feeling to be nervous about you teenager getting behind the wheel and driving away for the first time. The best thing that you can do is make sure that they are as prepared as possible for the road ahead. This will not only help to make him or her a better driver but also hopefully make it easier for you to relax as they pull out of the driveway. Luckily with parent taught drivers education Texas,you will be in complete control of the driving techniques they are taught and can lead by your own example.
It is important to remember that the teen driver is going to be uncomfortable at first but will begin to relax as they continue practicing. Even for you get on the road for the first time, it is always a good idea to discuss the things you expect. This could include some of the skills you would like to have them go over during the upcoming driving session and a simple explanation of why they are important to learn. Here are a few quick tips of how to get started on the road:
- Always provide adequate time for warming up in a safe area. Empty parking lots are a great place to start learning. Practice simple skills like turning, accelerating and braking while getting the feel of how the car handles under the environmental conditions. Go over the basic controls present in the car such as headlights, windshield wipers and the window defroster.
- Keep the first few sessions as simple as possible. It seems like second nature to more experienced drivers but there is a lot that goes into driving. A quick safety check, mirror adjustments, starting the car, backing out of a parking spot, watching out for other drivers, and the list goes on. It can be hard for new drivers to process all of the information of the road in the beginning and if we aren’t careful, it will become a distraction.
- When mistakes happen, and they will, take the opportunity to make it a learning experience. Ask your teenager to pull the car to a safe place and put the car in park. This will allow you to discuss what happened, what can be done to avoid it in the future, and any other problems that may have come out of similar mistake.
Once both of you become more comfortable with their driving abilities you can begin going over more advanced skills like merging into traffic, highway driving and how to appropriately handle a four way stop. Always be sure to cover what it takes to drive in different conditions such as road construction, nighttime driving and how to handle driving in inclement weather. It will take a lot of practice before you are ready to let them drive away on their own but you helping them prepare for the responsibilities that come with being a licensed driver is a step in the right direction.
