Parenting Done Right: Tips for Teaching Good Driving Skills

For parents with teenagers, it can often be challenging to trust your child on the road. Instead of relying on driving schools, it’s important to teach your child how to be a responsible driver who is not distracted or inexperienced. When it’s time to help your teenager operate a vehicle, there are a few tips to follow to ensure they feel confident and learn important techniques. This way they can be ready for anything.

Drive in Different Weather Conditions
Instead of just practicing driving in 70-degree weather, it’s important to help your teen feel comfortable behind the wheel in wind, rain, and snow. Different weather conditions require drivers to drive slower than usual, and use different techniques to avoid hydroplaning on slippery roads. Make sure you walk through all techniques before actually having them try it out.

Practice Defensive Driving
Although you may help your teenager become a great driver, it doesn’t mean they won’t be involved in a collision due to another driver’s mistake. It’s important to reduce the risk of getting in an accident by practicing defensive driving with your child. Steers Insurance Limited, a car insurance company out of Grand Falls says this includes scanning the road, looking both ways while driving through intersections, and watching for blind spots. Teach them to be hyper-aware of their surroundings and stay safe at all times.

Warn Against Driving Too Closely
A significant amount of accidents are caused by drivers who follow too closely to the car in front of them. Teach your teen to follow two to four seconds behind the car in front of them, and to use an object on the road to gauge the distance. This will make it easier to have time to stop if the vehicle ahead slows down abruptly. A good rule of thumb is to follow two car lengths behind for every 10 miles per hour that they’re driving.

Help them Become Comfortable with the Car
The more comfortable a teenager is with the car they’ll be driving, the more confident they’ll feel on the road. Teach them to parallel park, find the blind spots, practice changing gears, and learn how to park to ensure the teenager can operate the vehicle correctly. This way they can avoid accidents or minor fender benders while becoming comfortable with the size of the vehicle.

Although every parent fears the day their teenager becomes a licensed driver on the road, there are a few ways to help them improve their skills. It will not only help you to feel more comfortable, but can ease any fears or insecurity that your child has, before getting behind the wheel.

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Tim Esterdahl

Tim Esterdahl is the editor of IFCS blog. He is a married father of three and enjoys golf in his spare time.

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