Teaching your teenager to drive can be one of life’s most harrowing experiences. You pick a wide open space, with no cars for miles, no pedestrians in sight, and no obstacles that could damage life, limb, or car. They slide into the driver’s seat and your heart immediately begins palpitating. You will surely die from anxiety, you think to yourself. They were just 3-years-old yesterday, it seems, peddling their big wheel across the driveway, and now they’re looking at when’s the next available driving test!
You explain to them the difference between the accelerator and the brake. They will mix them up anyway at least once. They turn the ignition and you’re fairly certain your heart is going to explode from your chest. They let up on the brake and the car begins to coast until their teenage foot moves over to the accelerator and lurches the car forward. You breathe deeply, swallow your anxiety, and explain that pressure must be applied gently to the pedal. They try again sheepishly and do much better the second time. In no time it seems, they’re driving in straight lines and circles in the wide open space you’ve picked out, probably too fast already, but everyone has to start somewhere.
This scenario is shared by parents all over as they fulfill their obligations to be their teen’s first driving instructor. As a parent, you want to be there for their firsts. Their first words. Their first steps. Their first day of school. And now, their first time stepping into the driver’s seat of a car. Learning to drive is a way of life for all teenagers and will help to shape them into the adults they become. Even if they move away, all while arranging for an interstate car shipping company to help transport their car to their new residence, they will remember the time when they learned to drive with their parents. While this may be a scary experience for both of you, it will be one that you’ll treasure for the rest of your life.
Signing your teen up for a driver’s education course will teach them even more than you already have, and can even get you a discount when you get a quote for auto insurance. Since teen insurance premiums can be high enough, you’ll probably want to share with them information about your insurance policy so that they know what kind of impact a citation or crash could have on your insurance bill. In order to make them the best driver possible, you also need to kick out some habits that could be dangerous to them and other road users. For example, teenagers by nature, are distracted, and even more so in today’s world of gadgets and electronics. The number one lesson they need to hear is that the car is no place for using them. This lesson could mean the difference between a fun Friday night out and never coming home again, so make sure they know it’s illegal to use their phone whilst driving.
Great teaching goes a long way when it comes to teen driving. But even impeccable driving knowledge or acceptable driving ability won’t always protect them. You can go even further to keep them safe on the road by choosing a safe car for them to drive. Check out car reviews on Cars.com to find the safest vehicles on the road today. Because like most parents, you’ll want to do whatever it takes to protect life’s most precious cargo.
