Tips for Practicing with Your Student Driver
Experience will make better and safer drivers. Your teen needs to practice, practice, practice with you. Here are some tips to help:
- Control anxiety – sit in passenger seat while an experienced driver is behind-the-wheel so that you get the road perspective from the right side.
- Decide ahead of time how to handle instruction. Let student know that if you say, “Stop” the student must stop immediately and then ask why.
- Make sure the teen is familiar with all the controls and warning lights.
- Plan the skills to be worked on before practice begins.
- Do not have any passengers during the first few practice drives.
- Give directions in advance of maneuvers.
- Use "commentary" driving at the beginning of the experience. Commentary driving means the student says out loud everything they see and plan to do before you need to mention it. This allows you to relax and only point out things that the teen is not mentioning. As an example, "I see the kids on the side of the road and I'm going to slow down."
- Don’t take student out driving after a bad day - yours or theirs.
- Practice in short 10 minute intervals – start in parking lots and quiet residential streets.
- Practice in all weather and light conditions – dark, rain, fog and snow.
- Look for positive in teen’s driving.
Remember - You are the example! If you have some bad habits, your kids probably learned them. It is time to fess up, shape up and help your kids to learn to follow the law and practice safe driving maneuvers.
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