Category Archives: parents

Driving Instruction and Why It Needs to Change

As someone who learned to drive at a very young age on private property, parking lots, and various driveways, I feel very strongly about the benefits of getting familiar with how a car operates just as soon as you can touch the pedals.  There is no replacement for seat time and an experienced kid behind the wheel is much safer than one that doesn’t know how to handle a car.

Now the problem today is that most drivers (young and old alike) do not know how to handle a car in the worst case scenarios simply because they’ve never been put into those situations. Driver education focuses on preventing drivers from getting themselves into dangerous situations, and that’s important, but the fact of the matter is that sometimes things happen and when they do, no amount of preventative education will help.

It is under these conditions in which a driver would benefit from a training program that focuses on car control in extreme circumstances.  A program that allows a driver to experience a car skidding out and losing traction or the pulse of the brake pedal as the ABS kicks in should be a required class to get your license, to drive on the road in which you are responsible for your car, your safety and that of your passengers, and by extension, the lives of other drivers on the road.

We are letting new drivers off easy with the almost laughably lax requirements to get a learner’s permit/license.  30 hours of classroom instruction, 12 hours of behind the wheel instruction, and 6 hours of in-car observation (in MA) is all fine and dandy, but where is the instruction around how to avoid a snowbank when your brakes lock up and your car won’t turn?  Where is the instruction on what do to if the back end of the car starts sliding out on you?  The old adage of “hope for the best but prepare for the worst” has never rung truer.  We want young drivers on the road who are competent at handling potentially dangerous situations because they have experienced them before (in a controlled environment of course).

We need to start taking young driver education more seriously and prepare them for dangerous situations so that they can react appropriately and possibly keep themselves out of trouble.

Parents, pay attention!

While I will admit right up front that I do not have any experience parenting or teaching young kids how to drive, there are certain things that kids need practice at in order to become good, safe drivers.  It doesn’t take much to pass the licensing exam these days and I think there’s a need for a better young driver educational system, but that’s another story.  Here are a few ways to make sure little junior becomes a strong, confident driver.

My first and most adamant plea to parents of young drivers is to make them learn how to drive a manual car.   The reasons behind this are numerous, but the most important is that driving a manual requires the driver to have a better understanding of the vehicle that is transporting them around on a daily basis.  They will have to understand what happens I they don’t shift up, or if they downshift when going too fast.  A better understanding of your car is just one part of what makes someone a better drive.

Additionally, learning to drive a manual car requires that more time be spent on paying attention to the car, and not the texts, tweets, and instagrams their friends are sending them.  Having to shift the car from 2nd to 3rd gear means they have less time to read that text from their friend that will take their eyes off the road. Here’s the simple math: More time concentrating on operating the car = less time concentrating on everything else.  How much time have you spent trying to get them to put the phone down around the house? Well, here’s one thing that can do that for those times when they aren’t under your watchful eyes.

Of course, as is applicable with many other things, practice makes perfect.  Time spent behind the wheel is time spent learning more about how the car behaves in all situations.  Take them driving in different weather conditions so they can see what happens when it starts to rain or snow and how other drivers react to the changing conditions.  Learning to read the road and the other drivers will prove to be invaluable down the road.

Lastly, if possible, I would HIGHLY recommend sending them to a defensive driving course such as those offered by Skip Barber or other driving schools.  Now I’m not talking about a classroom where they talk and take notes about the different situations (which is helpful in some ways), I’m talking about getting them into a car to learn how to handle a panic brake situation, or how the rear of the car can break loose in slippery conditions.  These schools get them behind the wheel and teach them how the car behaves in different circumstances in controlled, safe environments with trained instructors in the passenger seats.  While these schools are not cheap, they are irreplaceable as hands-on, real life practice in situations that would otherwise be very dangerous.

It is crucial that you go above and beyond what is required of your kids to be drivers, you want them to be GREAT drivers, and that requires a little extra effort on your part.  That effort however, I promise you, will pay off when they are able to safely swerve around that deer that came out of nowhere and keep control of the car.  If you want to keep them safe, make sure you start early and get them comfortable behind the wheel, extra hours spent developing their skills early on will mean a much smarter driver years down the road.