Teaching Your Kids to Drive

Teaching Your Kids to Drive

Whether your kids are legally old enough to drive or not, you should consider teaching them the principles of driving. This will set them up for a safer life of driving, and the earlier people start to drive, the more experience they’ll have, and the more confident they’ll be when they start going out on the road.

Lead by Example

The best thing that you can do for your kids when it comes to driving is to lead by example. If you’re a calm, cautious driver, then it’s more likely that your kids will be too. Make sure that you’re observing speed limit, don’t text and drive, and as you drive, teach your child. Tell them what signs mean, why you’re changing gear, why safety is important and other information while you drive. Simply talking is one thing, but being a good driver yourself is extremely important.

Teaching Them Yourself

When you take your child out driving yourself, there are a few things to keep in mind. You must always keep calm when they’re driving and you’re supervising. Shouting at them will only make them stressed and worried and more likely to make mistakes and accidents. Try to be detached from them as you tell them what to do, as a more caring approach can lead to heated arguments.

Plan the route before you go driving, especially if they’re just a beginner. Keeping to quiet roads where it’s not too busy or chaotic is best, so you’ll avoid your child making mistakes under pressure from other cars. The more mistakes they make the more unconfident they’ll become and less likely to want to drive. Make sure that your child has mastered the basics before venturing out on the roads.

Think about the way you talk to them too. Words like ‘slowly’ or ‘gently’ can mean different things to different people, so being specific is better, like saying ‘slow to 30’.

Make Sure They Get Lessons

If your kids’ school offers driving lessons make sure they sign up. In some states they’re available as young as 14. There’s nothing more valuable than an instructor’s help. However, you have to know that your child is willing to learn. Some kids will be ridiculously eager to get behind the wheel, but others will be petrified at the thought, so make sure they’re ready. Learning to drive takes determination, and this may be lacking if they don’t really want to do it. Piquing their interest with modified car blogs will help keep them interested in the world of driving and cars.

 

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