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Because we have well-marked roads, safer vehicles, and better enforcement of laws, it doesn't SEEM to be that dangerous. But a moment of thought should bring it home: when was the last time you read about an airplane crash, a sky-diving death, a homicide in your city? Or even a combat death, for that matter? Now, when, and how often, have you read about a fatal collision in your city?
The purpose here is not to scare you OUT of letting your teen drive, but to be more aware of what driving really is: a mental task of risk-management, risk-assessment, and constant awareness of the driving environment.
In the 15-plus years that I have been teaching driving, I have never seen a teen who COULDN'T master the MECHANICAL skills needed to aim a car down the road without hitting anything. However, this is "aiming", not "driving". The problem arises from their inexperience in THINKING skills: of realizing what a danger is, of thinking how to properly react to that danger, and then executing the action they decided upon.
As a parent, you are required to provide at least 50 hours of supervised driving, 10 of those hours must be at night. You don't have to do it all yourself; you can delegate some, or all, of those hours to another family member, friend, or even hire a driving instructor to provide them. The purpose of these 50 hours is to get the teen to experience, and think about, different driving situations. This is NOT accomplished by driving to the store, driving to school, or any other "familiar pattern" driving. They must go out into unfamiliar areas, where everyone in the vehicle is much more aware of their surroundings, signs, and distractive elements (such as neon signs, pedestrians, animals, ambient noises, etc.).
One of the hallmarks of good driving instruction is called "interrogative driving". This is where both the supervisor and the student ask each other questions about events as they occur. These questions should NEVER be of a simple "yes/no" answer type. They should be phrased in such a manner as to require a thoughtful reply, in a complete sentence. As an exmple :"There is no white limit line or marked crosswalk at the stop sign. Where do you think you should stop the car before proceeding through the intersection?" Or: " What is dangerous about the little boy playing soccer in his front yard ahead?
Please try to forget about how "easy" driving is for you, and remember how difficult it is for your teen. When you come to a stop sign, you automatically " multitask "; you look for other cars, pedestrians, decide who gets to go first, look and listen for emergency vehicles, etc. Your teen does the EXACT same thing...but does it ONE STEP AT A TIME, since they haven't completely learned to multitask yet. It will come, but it is NOT there yet. Yelling at them to "go,go,go" or "STOP!!!" is not helpful, it only makes them more nervous, since they haven't seen a danger that YOU have already recognized.
So what if other drivers honk at you in impatience? So what if they yell at you, make obscene gestures, etc.? You never let them bother you when you were potty-training the child, you never let them bother you when you were teaching them to ride a bike, you never let them bother you when you taught your child ANYTHING. Why is NOW different? You are teaching a life skill, and teaching them to survive, even from themselves.
Patience is IMPERATIVE, as is PROPER COMMUNICATION!
Finally, once you start training your teen, if you have questions or concerns, please call on us. We will be glad to assist you in advice, techniques, or in any other way we can. We don't charge you for this, it is done out of concern for the teen. The only time we charge is when an instructors' time is involved either in a classroom or in a car.
Glenard Munson,
President
(as well as a proud father, and grandfather of 6!)
Statewide Driving School