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Teaching teen to drive


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13 hours ago, Loowit said:

One thing my brother (former driver's ed instructor) did with nephew is get a magnetic "sticker" that says new driver on it to put on the back of the vehicle when they were out driving.  He had extra, so he loaned one to us.  I think that many drivers are more forgiving of mistakes if they know it is someone just learning to drive.

In Australia it is a legal requirement to have L Plates displayed while learning to drive. The are just a small yellow square with an L on that are usually put in the front and rear windows. I sort of assumed most countries had something similar but now I think about it I never see L plates in movies or TV shows. As someone in an area with a lot of driving schools, and so a lot of learner drivers, I find them very helpful!

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9 hours ago, AurieD said:

In Australia it is a legal requirement to have L Plates displayed while learning to drive. The are just a small yellow square with an L on that are usually put in the front and rear windows. I sort of assumed most countries had something similar but now I think about it I never see L plates in movies or TV shows. As someone in an area with a lot of driving schools, and so a lot of learner drivers, I find them very helpful!

We did the magnetic sticker thing, too. I think it would be a good requirement to have. Although I must admit there were more than a few times that I didn't remember to remove the sticker when it was just me in the car until after I'd arrived somewhere-often when I opened the back to put groceries in or something similar! 

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14 hours ago, JennyD said:

Our neighborhood is all on-street parking, too.  It will be a miracle if DS never takes off someone's mirror.

Speaking from very recent experience, ahem, replacing the side view mirror on my car was surprisingly easy! I just kept reminding myself that a few more inches to the left and we would have to be evaluating the garage for structural damage 😱. The brand new driver got their license last week, though!

23 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

We did the magnetic sticker thing, too. I think it would be a good requirement to have. Although I must admit there were more than a few times that I didn't remember to remove the sticker when it was just me in the car until after I'd arrived somewhere-often when I opened the back to put groceries in or something similar! 

I'm thinking a passive notification to people driving behind us is nice, but insufficient. The notification/warning should probably be a flasher repurposed from one of those '70s police shows. Remember how if there was an emergency somebody reached out the window and stuck it on the car? Maybe the flashing colors could be yellow and orange.

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10 hours ago, AurieD said:

In Australia it is a legal requirement to have L Plates displayed while learning to drive. The are just a small yellow square with an L on that are usually put in the front and rear windows. I sort of assumed most countries had something similar but now I think about it I never see L plates in movies or TV shows. As someone in an area with a lot of driving schools, and so a lot of learner drivers, I find them very helpful!

I would like to see something like that here.  I think it would become something most (sadly not all) people paid attention for.  The driver's ed car at the school has several stickers and signs on them.  I am not sure if it is a legal requirement for them or not.

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On 11/7/2021 at 9:26 AM, Farrar said:

Honestly, I gave up.

He really didn't want to in the first place and I really pushed because I think it's a life skill people should have (at least in the US). It became massively panic inducing and when kid gets into panic mode, he lashes out in the most nasty ways possible. I know this, but it's not fun to have your kid screaming all the worst things he can think of to say directed right at you. He's in such a good place across the board with everything else. So I decided it wasn't a hill to die on. Maybe he'll learn one day. Sigh.

So much depends on the student. My first son was rather like yours. He didn’t yell, but he got squinty-eyed and short tempered and wasn’t safe behind the wheel with his anxiety spiking through the roof. He was pretty much unteachable. No matter how many times I would tell him something, he simply wouldn’t listen. For example, in a parking lot with 4 speed bumps, he hit the first one too fast. I told him, “You need to take those super slow,” he didn’t slow down for the second one. “Ok, just slow down a ridiculous amount for a speed bump—like 3 mph.” He didn’t slow down and we hit the 3rd one just as fast. And the fourth. He wasn’t being defiant. He just couldn’t seem to make himself do what he was supposed to do. He’d get all upset that he wasn’t slowing down…yet he wouldn’t slow down. 

After 2 years of enduring this, I stopped teaching him and let my dh do it. I haven’t ridden with him as a drive in a year.

 

But for my youngest? He’s engaged and cheerful and reacts instantly to instruction. And he barely needs instruction. He just naturally seems to know what to do. It’s effortless. I don’t mind riding with him at all. It’s actually kinda fun teaching him.

Edited by Garga
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My dad was actually a really good teacher. He just took me to an empty parking lot (the DMV parking lot on the weekend). He just had me go up and down the parking aisles until I felt comfortable handling the car. He would go over everything that I needed to do and how and then we would practice the manuver. When I felt ready he took me on the real road and told me to only go as fast as I was comfortable and at any time if I felt too nervous about the whole thing to stop the car and he will take over. I don't know how he stayed so calm.

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