RoughCollie Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 (edited) I need warnings. All we did today was go over the controls. Then he backed the car up a few feet --- at top speed. I got out of the car, stood on a hill at the top of the steps leading from the driveway, and let him put the car back into my parking spot. As I stood there, I yelled, "Don't hit the house!" He didn't. Then I came in and called my brother who is busy grilling and now I have to wait an hour to find out, if I send DS1 to GA, will he teach DS1 to drive. It's gonna be hard for me to teach him with me standing on the lawn. He's already taken driver's ed. It didn't include actual driving, if you can believe that! The driving part costs $35 an hour. Edited July 6, 2011 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 We start in large empty parking lots. It is very fun the first time, with hitting the gas and brake too hard. My back was sore. Drive him to an empty parking lot first. He can drive in circles and get the feel of the car, and then park, etc. It is scary, but that's how we all learn. :) P.S. I swore that dh was going to teach him, but it turned out that I was the more available parent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I hope your area is better than Pitt. What an awful place to learn to drive. Or maybe its a good thing??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 How about the horror that my big brother and his dog went through with me? We lived in MI on a farm for that year. My big brother took me out to some country roads and let me in the driver's seat. After I took a corner literally on two wheels, I managed to stop the car. The dog jumped out and refused to get back in the car until my brother was in the driver's seat!:auto::auto::auto: I've been driving for 30 some years and have never had an accident.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 How about the horror that my big brother and his dog went through with me? We lived in MI on a farm for that year. My big brother took me out to some country roads and let me in the driver's seat. After I took a corner literally on two wheels, I managed to stop the car. The dog jumped out and refused to get back in the car until my brother was in the driver's seat!:auto::auto::auto: I've been driving for 30 some years and have never had an accident.:) :lol: I took both dds to parking lots. We also were fortunate to be living at the beach when DD32 learned to drive in the winter so the streets were virtually empty. For dd30, I sent her to driving school. For both girls, though, I personally taught them to parallel park. They were both a little heavy on the gas pedal when they were learning.:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 My dh taught a teen to drive 18 years ago and is STILL suffering for it to hear him tell the tale. The teen was me. Moral of the story: If you want the right to gripe about their driving, you can't be the one who taught them to drive.;) Well you can still gripe, but they will just blame their driving instructor.:tongue_smilie: My dh absolutely insists he will outsource driving lessons bc he is never teaching a teen to drive again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter's Moon Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 My mom just took me to large, empty parking lots (schools) and I practiced parking in a space, backing into a space, parallel parking, and then our car overheated because I was only going about 15 mph the whole time :lol: A horror story: One of my first times on the road, there was a huge spider on the window and it was distracting me because I couldn't tell if it was inside or out and it was moving around. So, my mom told me to turn the wind shield wipers on. It exploded all over my side of the window and I screamed and almost swerved into a parked car. So, don't kill any bugs while driving. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 My dh gave dd her first 3 or so lessons starting in a local empty carpark and then driving slowly around our (quiet) suburb. Then I noticed a loooong time had passed and he wasn't giving her any more. I had presumed he would teach her. He didn't want to- too stressful for him- and he stressed her out, too. So I have had to take over and really its been fine- she is really relaxed and pretty confident and I am very conscious to talk her through things calmly. She had the basics. Dh kept warning me not to take her out on the highway but I did and she was fine. I mean, it comes down to practice and eventually they need to try everything and feel comfortable. So now she drives most times I need to take her somewhere and she is getting her several $50 official lessons leading up to her test in the next couple of weeks. We took dh somewhere the other day- dd driving- and I insisted he sit int he back seat. He could not stop being a back seat driver and completely freaked out. Yet I feel perfectly safe with dd. So its got to be a personality thing. I will have to teach ds too. I would rather not, you know, but thats the way it is and it hasnt been too bad at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 (edited) The dog jumped out and refused to get back in the car until my brother was in the driver's seat! I know how the dog feels, and DS1 has barely left my parking space! He asked me where the foot rest was! What foot rest? Apparently my brother's car has one (or two). Then he wanted to know if he could rest his left foot on the parking brake while he was driving. Why does his foot need to rest????? We weren't in that car for 5 minutes before I realized I was yelling, and the car hadn't moved yet. I don't think I have the temperament for this. I am calling my brother in 17 minutes. Or maybe DH will do it. He's having a sleep study done, so I am not going to ask him in case it keeps him awake all night. Edited July 6, 2011 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Although DH and I showed dd19 how to drive, we decided to hire a driving instructor. We paid $300 for 6 hours of one-on-one instruction. It was so worth it!! The very first time I took her out, we went to a park. She got behind the wheel, pulled the seat all the way up so that her chest was against the steering wheel, and basically used her big toe to press the accelerator. I told her I didn't expect I would be teaching Grandma Moses how to drive. It took over an hour to get her confident enough to go faster than 10 mph. Yeah, that driving instructor was so worth it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter's Moon Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Although DH and I showed dd19 how to drive, we decided to hire a driving instructor. We paid $300 for 6 hours of one-on-one instruction. It was so worth it!! The very first time I took her out, we went to a park. She got behind the wheel, pulled the seat all the way up so that her chest was against the steering wheel, and basically used her big toe to press the accelerator. I told her I didn't expect I would be teaching Grandma Moses how to drive. It took over an hour to get her confident enough to go faster than 10 mph. Yeah, that driving instructor was so worth it. :) :lol::lol::lol: I've had at least 5 elderly ladies pass me and at least another 5 honk at me for driving too slow. I go 30 mph on a 30 mph road. It isn't my fault they're antsy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I need warnings. All we did today was go over the controls. Then he backed the car up a few feet --- at top speed. I got out of the car, stood on a hill at the top of the steps leading from the driveway, and let him put the car back into my parking spot. As I stood there, I yelled, "Don't hit the house!" He didn't. Then I came in and called my brother who is busy grilling and now I have to wait an hour to find out, if I send DS1 to GA, will he teach DS1 to drive. It's gonna be hard for me to teach him with me standing on the lawn. He's already taken driver's ed. It didn't include actual driving, if you can believe that! The driving part costs $35 an hour. Do you blame them? Would you ride with new drivers for less than that (It doesn't sound like you want to.)? :lol: Sounds like money well spent to me. Michigan's driver training is pretty thorough. I hardly ever panicked while ds was perfecting his skills. Or the memory has already been blocked (Really, he's such a level-headed kid...). Got another one coming up next summer. We'll see how that one goes. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 P.S. I swore that dh was going to teach him, but it turned out that I was the more available parent. Same here. It sounded fair to me. I had it all worked out. I give them birth, nurse them for years and years (all total), and do the lion's share of the day to day parenting. He should teach them to drive right? Right? :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 My dad took me to a large empty parking lot for my first few lessons. It worked out well. When my grandfather taught my father to drive he put a milk jug filled to the top with water, placed it on the floor of the car between his feet and told my father not to spill it. No pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 to get his DL. I've taught all 4 of mine (in addition to mandatory driving school), and it has really not been that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkInTheBlue Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I've been the primary teacher for our 15 year old and it's been wonderful. He's careful, attentive, aware of the reality of responsibility he's taking on and good. He got his permit May 10th and has been on a 65 mph highway already. He's doing great and you will too. ;) We also started in an empty parking lot, then our cul de sac neighborhood and then slow roads, etc. It's been fun :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 The last kid we had to teach was barreling down on a stopped car at full speed. DH yanked the wheel at the last moment and made the car swerve around the stopped car while yelling the entire last two hundred feet at DS 'Stop Stop Stop Stop Stop!!!!!'. DS was quite indignant. "I was going to do that!" Um, no. Not in our car, with our car insurance you're not. Good luck and hope you like the bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 big empty parking lots here. First outing I realized I'd be spending some time at the chiropractor. Ds cannot seem to get the idea of gradually starting and gradually stopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 We start in large empty parking lots. It is very fun the first time, with hitting the gas and brake too hard. My back was sore. Drive him to an empty parking lot first. He can drive in circles and get the feel of the car, and then park, etc. It is scary, but that's how we all learn. :) P.S. I swore that dh was going to teach him, but it turned out that I was the more available parent. I also swore that dh was going to teach our kids to drive. And he did. I figured he'd be better at it since he used to teach folks to fly jets when he was in the Air Force. His calm demeanor is more suited to it. He also started ds in the church parking lot, just learning to get a feel for the car. They drove together for about a month (not every day) before I felt comfortable enough to drive with ds. He was fine--a natural like his dad, really. But we still have a couple of horror stories. One was when dh instructed ds to speed up and cut into the turning lane between two cars that were barely far enough apart for us to fit. Ds was freaked out a bit. I was a bit freaked too and thought we should have just missed the turn. The second was when ds was "playing" with the gears. He thought he should learn to put the car in neutral when he was at a red light. So he did. Then he forgot to shift into drive. And we were on a hill. So we rolled back just enough to get a scream out of me. :eek: Yeah, he doesn't do that anymore. Overall driving with this ds has been a good experience. I'm not so sure it will be so with ds2--he tends to be less observant. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I blocked it totally out and can't help you. Sorry. I do remember watching ds try to drive the Celica up a hill.......... and drifting back......... and some frustrations voiced....... but I honestly can't give you the details I wish I could :lol: but I can't :lol: and I admit that I'm overprotective. He's been driving 2 years and is an awesome kid. I'm SO proud of him. I still wonder about the dents and scrapes but I choose to :closedeyes: and leave it to dh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Well, my dd just got her driver's license, and honestly, I don't have any horror stories to tell about dh and me teaching her to drive. But when I was learning to drive, I accidentally drove through our wooden garage door and broke it in two. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 I love your stories - many are similar to my nightmares. :D What can I say? I'm a big chicken! Thank you for telling me these things. I called my brother. He said, "What are you teaching them to drive for? I taught them 3 years ago!" If I bring all the kids to stay at his house for a week in August, he will take over the driving instruction. We can't go earlier b/c Aidan starts obedience school tomorrow. Plus I have to lose weight first. He said he'll take them on the expressway, on highways, and so forth -- IOW, on roads with cars on them. I don't think I can handle that. You all might be brave, but I'm not. Plus, he'll teach all 4 of them! Maybe if I park at the end of one of these long country roads around here, DS1 can drive down it. There are phone poles, but if he can manage to get by the farmhouses, all that's there are fields. I wonder if our car insurance covers crop damage. I have an SUV, that unless DS1 rolls it over, is practically indestructible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 When my daughter was learning to parallel park, we drove around the block, pulled up in front of the house, and she'd park between two cones we'd put out... About the third time around, the dirtball neighbors were all lined up on the curb with a case of beer, "cheering" her on. Otherwise, it wasn't so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 When our first was driving we lived in a small town. No big deal. 2nd one we had moved to big city and she learned to drive on the freeway. One very bad day, (there were many with her) she pulled out in front of a car. I was sitting in the back passenger side..I was sure I could see wings. Hubby refused to drive with her after that. 3rd was a boy. On the day he took his test a semi truck turned left in front of him. I about passed out in the back seat. (It was June, hot and he nervously forgot to turn the a/c on.) He did pass his test after the tester yelled at him for 5 mins about why that truck turned left in front of him. We later realized that he yelled at every body as they got back from their test. 4th was a boy. I told his father he had to teach him, I couldn't take it anymore. That son had an accident 2 weeks after he got his license and totaled the car. I am so glad there weren't any more kids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 When DH taught DD to drive a stick shift, she did really well. We have a very hilly neighborhood and she handled the hills and clutch quite deftly. When they came home from their little driving lesson, DD parks at the top of the driveway (steeeeeeeeeeeep driveway) and they both get out of the car. About 10 minutes later, oldest DS screams from the bedroom window that DD's car is rolling down the driveway :w00t: - headed right toward the creek at the bottom of our property. The car hit a large apple tree and stopped there - thank goodness. :hurray: Lesson to be learned from this story - be sure to instruct the driver of a stick shift to not only put on the parking brake, but also put the car in gear when parking so that it cannot move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 How about the other day when ds was practicing on some city streets and we got to an intersection as the light was turning yellow, so ds floors it. I yell at him to slow down and stop and then told him yellow does not mean speed up. He says "You and Dad do it all the time." :glare: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnitaMcC Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Dh is the driving instructor in our home. Not me, no way no how!!!!! Niece and nephew took drivers ed at school and then Dh taught them to drive the rest... and he made sure they knew how to drive. Dh loves to teach the kids how to have fun driving... donuts, skidding, etc. After the kids have done at least 25 hours with Dh, then I will let them drive with me in the car-LOL. Ds#1 and Dd turned 16 end of April and both are itching to drive. We move to PA in a few weeks and they will go for the permit test as soon as we can get them in. Then Dh gets to have fun-LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I've taught three kids how to drive. The worst was one day when dd had just graduated from parking lots to side street driving. She knew how to make the car do what she wanted and had gone through all the driver's ed video learning lessons, but was not at all familiar with judging distances or dealing with traffic. We were leaving a huge parking lot early on a Saturday morning (really early) and she was getting ready to pull out of the parking lot onto the normally very busy access road. The traffic on the access road was very sparse, as it is so very early on a weekend morning. Should have been perfectly reasonable for her to start working on learning to negotiate side streets. I had warned my people-pleasing dd the day before to ignore other drivers, to only listen to me, as no one else knew that she was a new driver. (She was worried about the (then theoretical) possibility of others being unhappy with her going slow on side streets.) So she's sitting in the parking lot, looking at the very few, distant oncoming cars, and screwing up her courage to make a right out onto the access road. A pickup truck pulls up behind her an honks at her to go. She, of course, jumps, and then floors it, right into the path of a, by now, uncomfortably close oncoming car. She makes the turn nearly on two wheels, I yell at her to go fast, and we make it. But I'm dying, thinking how close she came to getting herself broadsided by the oncoming car. I had her pull over several blocks down at the next possible place and switched seats with her. I told her if she ever wanted to drive again, she needed to listen to me and not the idiot in the pickup truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I forgot to add that we've actually had a few more entertaining moments than horror stories. Most of the funny stuff involves parking. When ds was learning to park he'd usually choose an out of the way spot. Even then he sometimes didn't quite make it into the spot. As he improved I'd direct him into particular spots with mixed success. But he does well now that he's been driving awhile. Now the entertainment is all about learning which roads go where. He likes to choose different routes to get home from church just to see if he can figure out where the different roads go. My other kids hate the extra 10 minutes it takes to get home, but he's got to learn sometime, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MPTnest Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I have been a driving instructor for eight years and have loved the job from the very first drive. My drivers ed horror story was with a middle eastern adult female who claimed to have had 7 lessons with another driving school before us. There was no parking lot available to start her in, so we used the least busy neighborhoods and started practicing turns. She was very nervous and needed a bit of practice turning. After going up and down several streets to the left and right we came to a little busier through street. I had her turn right, she got so nervous she turned the steering wheel a complete revolution to the left in the MIDDLE of the right turn, just as a car was passing us in the other direction. I slammed on my passenger side brake but she did clip then left corner of his vehicle. This is the only collision I have with a student in 8 years. Only one other student did something similar coming into her parking lot and scrapped a shrub. My oldest dd, 19 has had about 45 hours of practice with me and has yet to get her license. my youngest, 17 has been driving since she was 15 with me, she got 100% when she took her drive test last April. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I taught one of my sisters to drive on my 4 speed Chevette. That would have been about 18 years ago. She's eight years younger than I am. I'm pretty sure she's the reason I needed a new clutch. I took her to a huge open parking lot and let her drive around there a while before I let her out on the road. Now, my sister is pretty safe and cautious, and it was still nerve wracking to be in the car with her. I'm sure someone else is going to have to do the duty when it's my kids' turn to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 I took DS1 to drive on the pasture on Saturday. He made a few circuits, and Aidan and I survived. Then DH took him down a long road that has a couple of farms on one side (with houses, barns, silos to hit), and fields on the other. DS1 thought it went very well. Now DH agrees that we are going to hire the driving instructor in town. Since DS1 has to drive for 50 hours before he can get his license, DH is going to have to go out with him a lot more. I hope DH gets nerves of steel about this, because we have 3 kids in line waiting to learn to drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 GREAT!! Thanks for this thread. I've taken my ds15 out a few times at my parents' house where there are hardly any cars. Where we live? Suburbia baby. ANd you need to take the freeway to get anywhere. Ds is in drivers' ed right now. It includes 6 drives. He gets his learners' permit on Friday. We leave for Cedar Point on Sunday. He wants to drive. NO WAY!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 It really hasnt been as bad as I thought- in fact, I really thought dh would do it, but after one hour long lesson with dd, he was a nervous wreck and she was stressed out...and I realised after a couple of months had passed with no more lessons, that it was going to be me or no one. The basics were done in an empty car park. Then it was driving slowly around the suburb. I am calm and purposely don't raise my voice or get stressed. I stay very matter of fact. I talk a fair bit, a running commentary, and stay fairly focused, to help her stay focused. I do not say "don't" do something- I wouldn't have said "don't hit the house". I would say "stay straight" or "careful"...but try to stay away from negative words, which create negative pictures, which is not what you want. For example, when someone says "don't think of monkeys", what do you immediately think of? But if they were to say "think of butterflies", you wouldn't be thinking of monkeys at all. So, I try and keep the language positive. Now dd drives most places when I am taking her somewhere- she hasn't got her license yet, and when she does, she needs to do a huge number of hours, but slowly slowly, she will get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 YEap goo to a large parking lot first and stay there until he can "pass" all the steps. I use a program that has instructions for teaching behind the wheel. I love it. and a check off list for helping know if they pass. For the parking lot it was mostly driving in circles. Then parking in the spaces. Pulling out. stopping when you say stop-quickly. Then we went to a cemetary that had quite a bit of road system during the day so he could lean to turn. I will say the program we use teaches things fairly different from the usual just get behind and put your hands anywhere and listen to the radio programs ds's friends have done. Seriously when he can drive through those places safely then you can have more confidence in what he is doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 My dad takes my son out to long isolated dirt roads and lets him drive. The rule is that he can't go over 35. He also lets him drive and park in our church parking lot. I am hoping that by the time he is driving age he will be a lot less scarey. It is the same way dad taught my brother and I to drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Around here it's very hard to find quiet places to practice. Even the office complexes will be busy on the weekends. They are required to do 6 hours with a licensed driving school to get their license at 17 in NJ so that's what we did - paid someone to teach her in a car that had an extra brake. Then, because of our car situation, she didn't get nearly enough practice (one is clutch, other is HUGE) so we paid them to take her to her test which included 2 hours of practice before. Amazingly enough, she passed but she still isn't getting enough practice. Now that schools almost ready to start she all of a sudden is getting over hating to drive the Suburban and is begging to take it out all the time. Meanwhile, I am attempting to teach her the clutch but I'm really hoping we will be able to buy her a little, cheap car soon. Part of my problem is I have a mild astigmatism and my depth perception is slightly off. I don't have a problem when I'm driving because I'm so used to it but from the passenger seat, I keep feeling like we're going to hit things on the side of the road. My nerves are shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy in the NH Woods Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 (edited) I taught our dd to drive. Rotary circles were my "favorite". Not. Dd also had a lead foot, for which I threatened many times to have her pull over and get out. Mr. Policeman and Mr. Judge took care of that little problem for us, and I thank them for it. :) We still giggle about a few misjudged turns into our driveway, complete with, "We're not going to make it!" and a flying Diet Coke. And her crying, "I don't know how it happened!" when we found the front bumper in the middle of the front yard as a result of backing the car out of the garage. Uh oh, I think she inherited my genetic code affecting emergency driving decisions: "When in doubt... punch it." Dd really is a very responsible adult now. ;) Edited August 8, 2011 by Cindy in the NH Woods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrg Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Here in California, 3 professional lessons are required. That very first one is a life-saver! It might be worth $35 for that first hour. I am a big chicken and let my husband have all the glory in teaching our 3 sons. I ride with them after they are licensed (and am still gripping, white-knuckled). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 We sent both dds to driving school since they both attended private high school and the costs we were quoted were similar to what you wrote here. As far as me getting in a car with either one of them......that wasn't going to happen.:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I've taught 3, or 4. Ds is only 14, but we've let him drive on our farm. He also regularly moved cars for us in the driveways/garages too. He also drives the tractor (dh taught him that one). A big empty field works great. A big empty parking lot is great too. My only horror has been the first one in the empty parking lot. She was practicing parking. After she parked, she was backing out of the space while in drive. She realized she was moving the wrong direction and hit the brake. Onlly her foot was on the gas. She jumped the concrete thingy at the front of the space. She did manage to find the brake before she hit the building in front of us. Another dd tended to drive a bit towards the right side of the road. Very common in new drivers by my experience. She would NOT move toward the center line more. Did NOT believe she was too far to the right. She managed to graze a plastic trash can sitting at the side of the road. It wobbled but did not fall down or dent. She moved to the left a bit after that and has been an extremely excellent driver since. Honestly, the rest of the horror stories are OTHER driver's mistakes. We've had some pretty close calls, but it really did not have anything to do with the beginning driver in my car. It had to do with the driverss in the other vehicles. It has helped me to realize that much of my nervousness in the passenger's seat has come from me expecting them to drive like ME. I expect them to start braking when I would brake. Start turning when I would turn. Change lanes when I would. They aren't clones or mind readers. I've learned to keep my mouth shut and let them drive without my screaming. I do have a little worn spot where I push my foot on the brake I wish I had.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.