As a parent, are you worried about how you would teach your teenage kid to drive? Wondering what the best way to make them learn to drive is?
Teaching driving to your teenage kid can be on your checklist while preparing your child to be alone behind the wheel. In our opinion, teaching driving to an adolescent child can be a good step toward making their transition to adulthood easy.
However, this might become a stressful task as parents know how to drive but don’t know how to teach it effectively. You can look for the 5-hour course near me and get Buffalo road test appointments now.
In addition, this post will elaborate on some professional tips to teach driving teenagers and the best ways to teach them.
Let’s get straight into it!
Do’s and Donts of Teaching Driving
We are located in Buffalo, New York, and are one of the popular driving schools in Buffalo. You can avail of the 5-hour New York State required in-class course and get your teenager to inhold of a vehicle.
As a rule of thumb, you must remember what you should expect and what guidelines you need to give your teenager to ensure they learn to drive correctly and quickly.
Some of the basic rules for success are as follows:
• Be Vigilant Constantly
One significant rule for safe driving is to stay aware and vigilant about your surroundings. 360-degree awareness is not your teen’s skill; you have mastered that skill, and you need to watch the car from the surroundings to ensure the driving lesson is completed safely.
• Give Directions Carefully
When you want your teen to learn something, give directions very carefully. For instance, instead of saying, “turn left,” try anticipating and say, “we’ll be turning to left in the coming block.”
In addition, use the word ‘right’ for the direction and to praise the teen if they have done something well, use ‘correctly.’
• Let Your Teen Decide
Generally, teens are ready to learn to drive as soon as they reach age, or sometimes they are not mature enough to take the responsibility. Therefore, do not push your kid to learn to drive.
Once you think they are at the age of learning to drive, express and discuss your thoughts with them. And wait until they say to you that they express a wish to learn to drive.
• Keep in Mind: You are the Coach
Your primary motive while teaching driving to your teen is to let them learn the driving basics. While driving, don’t talk about irrelevant stuff, and do not get upset with them. In addition, praise them with little things and keep them motivated with the phrases so that they stay interested in learning to drive.
• Plan the Lesson
It is imperative to plan where you will give lessons and let your teen know about it ahead of time. Also, let them know which skills they will be working on and the essentials they must keep in mind to ensure they pick the key points quickly.
• Prefer Daylight
It is better to start in daylight and pleasant weather for a person who is learning basic driving skills. Also, prefer a road in good condition to make sure your teen faces fewer hurdles while learning to drive.
• Start Steadily
Start slowly and steadily while teaching drive to your teen. Spend time in a parking bay and teach them to turn, reverse, and stop. When you feel the teen is ready, move to the quiet residential area where they can practice with fewer vehicles.
The next step should be moving to the streets with relatively heavier traffic and busy streets once they master driving there.
5 Stages of Learning to Drive for Your Teenager
Teaching a teenager to drive can be an overwhelming experience, as sometimes, as a parent, you cannot explain directions adequately. Therefore, if you are looking for a qualified driving instructor at low rates, you can contact our Buffalo, New York driving institute.
To make your teen develop good driving skills, you must take them through 5 stages. These stages are briefly elaborated as follows:
Stage 1: Teach Them to Learn about the Vehicle
This initial stage of learning about driving revolves around the general information about the vehicle, like how it works and what the driver should know about it.
Ask your teen to go through the manual or the numerous videos and articles available on the internet to understand the basics or just have an idea about them.
By the end, your teen kid must know the following details about the vehicle:
o Fasten seat belts
o Changing the flat tire
o Check the oil, inflate the tires, and fueling
o How to react appropriately in case of an accident
o Start and stop the engine of the vehicle
o Turning on and off the headlight and parking lights.
o Turning on and off the windshield wipes
o Comprehend what the different lights on the dashboard mean
Remember: do not try to move too fast. Let your teen master the skills in one stage, then move to the next. The skills from the previous stage will serve as the basics for the next one.
Stage 2: The Basics
This is the stage where the learner comprehends what it takes to maneuver the vehicle as per their instructions. These skills can be learned in a vacant parking lot. Until the end of this stage, your teenager must be able to:
o Reverse the vehicle straight and safely
o Make safe and concise turn left and right, along with the proper signals on and off
o Shifting of gears (if using a manual transition vehicle)
o Be aware of their surroundings
o Press the brake and stop the car smoothly.
Stage 3: Interacting with Other Vehicles
Since your teenager has learned the basics of driving, it is time to let them interact with the other vehicles around them. In this stage, they should know how to cope with other vehicles, pedestrians, parked cars, etc., near them.
You can take your teenager to a quiet residential area until they are confident and comfortable with the surroundings, then move them to a relatively busy street.
Your teenager will get to learn the following skill by the end of this stage:
o Drive in a considerate manner
o Maintain a safe distance while driving near other vehicles
o Make a safe and smooth transition from one lane to another
o Keep control of the vehicle and stay calm while intersections like with the signals, two-way stops, uncontrolled intersections, and four-way stops
o Obey and operate with the traffic signs and speed limitations
o Cross the railway tracks safely
o Check blind spots and use mirrors
Stage 4: Turns and Parking
Driving and parking are two different things. It is also said that the majority of accidents by teenagers are while parking the vehicle or taking it out of the parking. To make your teenager master these skills, move towards an empty parking lot and let them practice and instruct them how to be careful with it.
Your teenager will learn the following things by the end of this stage:
o Safe three-point turn
o Safe U-turn
o Safe parking in the hill-facing uphill and downhill
o Safe parallel parking
o Pull into and out of the diagonal parking
Stage 5: Mastery Skills
The skills your teenager will learn at this stage, and their proficiency level depends on your teenager’s learning level and credibility. Don’t move to this stage if you feel your teenager is not ready, as these are advanced driving skills.
Make your teenager learn these skills at stage 5:
o Safe driving at night
o Safe driving in harsh conditions like on ice, wet weather, and snow
o Safe driving on the freeway includes lane changes, maintaining safe cushions from nearby vehicles, and merging.
Final Verdict
Teaching driving to your teenager is a harrowing experience for most parents. But if you take time to prepare, plan the lessons, work skill by skill, and, most importantly, stay patient with your teenager, you can make your teenager a perfect driver.
Or else, if you are looking for certified and professional instructors approved by DMV for in-car driving lessons, we are here to assist you. All our driving instructors ensure you’re an expert behind the wheel and make your teen a controller of the vehicle.