![\"learner-parent1\"](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/learner-parent1.jpg\")
<\/a>Most of us who have teenagers go through the journey of watching them progress through the licenses and become fully fledged motorists.\u00a0 It\u2019s quite an emotional roller coaster \u2013 and some journeys feel physically like a roller coaster, too.\u00a0 However, in spite of what it can do to your stress levels at times, I recommend that parents encourage children to get their drivers\u2019 licences early on.\u00a0 Not only does it suddenly make your kids grow up and learn some responsibility but it also saves hassles later on.\u00a0 If you\u2019d seen one of my friend\u2019s daughters wind up as a young mother with no driver\u2019s licence, or if you\u2019d seen one of my other friends constantly ferrying around a teenage boy who prefers a gaming console to a steering wheel, you\u2019d feel that way too.<\/p>\nThe first few forays out in the car are always amusing.\u00a0 For once, your teenager will be listening carefully to everything you say and will (for once) act like they don\u2019t know everything.\u00a0 This phase, which usually takes place on quiet roads, involves stalling, lurching and incorrect gear selection, plus the odd near miss as your teenager realises that you have to start braking earlier in the picture than you do with computer driving games.<\/p>\n
Then you teen will master the basics and will get back to thinking that he\/she knows it all.\u00a0 The times that you are driving, you will wish that you had duct tape handy, as you will have the world\u2019s worst back seat driver on board who will tell you exactly what they would have done and ask why you\u2019re not going at the full speed limit at the moment (when it\u2019s raining cats and dogs late at night and the road is flooded so you can barely see the white lines in the middle).\u00a0 This is where you grit your teeth and explain why you\u2019re doing what you\u2019re doing.\u00a0 Are you familiar with the phrase \u201cteachable moment\u201d?<\/p>\n
During this phase, you\u2019ve got to teach them as much as you can.\u00a0 Let them learn good habits.\u00a0 You shouldn\u2019t stop riding with them altogether during the provisional stage, as they\u2019re still inexperienced, but you still need to make the most of the learner phase to ensure that the next generation of drivers has decent skills, by trying things like the following:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Drop your teens in the deep end.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to be quite as vicious as my husband was, getting our son to do his first parallel parking manoeuvre between an expensive new Audi <\/a>and an equally expensive new Jaguar <\/a>, but make them do the difficult stuff.<\/li>\n
- Hand the keys over as much as possible.\u00a0 Yes, you like to drive.\u00a0 However, your teenager needs the practice, so give them all the chances they can get.<\/li>\n
- When you are in the driver\u2019s seat, model good driving etiquette and attitude.\u00a0 Would you want your teenager going just a shade over the speed limit and trying to nip into small gaps because he\/she is running late?\u00a0 Would you want him\/her leaning on the horn at the slightest provocation?\u00a0 Trying to just nip through on an orange light?\u00a0 Checking the cell phone while driving just for a few wee seconds because this text might be important?\u00a0 You get the picture\u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There\u2019s also one very important thing that you need to do:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Get them driving in a car with as few driver aids as possible.<\/b>\u00a0 These days, you can buy cars with blind spot monitoring, warnings about things approaching from the side, cameras all over the show to help you park, collision protection that automatically jams on the brakes if it detects that a ding is likely and so on.\u00a0 My own inner alarm bells are going off to think that some teenagers are learning to drive in cars like these.\u00a0 Of course, we want to protect our beloved sons and daughters and make sure that they\u2019re safe.\u00a0 However, if they\u2019re always driving a car that does a lot of the work for them, they\u2019re going to learn to rely on these driver aids.\u00a0 They won\u2019t know how to do it the hard way.\u00a0 The time will come when they buy their own cars\u2026 which will probably be older models that don\u2019t have all these active safety features.\u00a0 And they will probably be driving them solo.\u00a0 Scary stuff.\u00a0 Beeping noises don\u2019t have the same impact on behaviour as much as \u201cWhat the heck were you doing? You nearly hit that car\/truck\/person!\u00a0 You\u2019re supposed to turn your head and check the blind spot before you change lanes!\u00a0 Don\u2019t you ever do that again! \u00a0I want to see your head turning to check.\u00a0 Let\u2019s try that one again.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Safe and happy driving for you and your teenagers,<\/p>\n