In the United States, teenagers can acquire a learner's permit anywhere from age fourteen to age sixteen, depending on their resident state's requirements. How well teens are prepared to learn the critical new skills associated with learning to drive depends on several factors, including life experience, self-confidence, parental and mentor guidance, and maturity (which often doesn't correlate with calendar age).
A systematic program built around developing a progression of driving skills can help solidify good road habits while alleviating stress and bolstering self-confidence. A program of this type helps ensure teens develop into safe and risk-adverse drivers.
Learning to drive is relatively easy. Reaching a high level of competence, however, takes time – and the proper instruction.
Like taking an academic test, acquiring a driving license requires advance study. And lives may depend on how well a teenager can master the course.
The following tips will introduce teens and their parents to the first steps on the path to driving proficiency. They include actions teens should take before they ever ease their car out on the road.
Teen Driving Preparation
Nowadays, most every city or county offers basic courses in driver education. High schools sometimes run them, as do local businesses.
A young person's first driving lessons should come from a professional. Teens can learn more efficiently from a pro than they can from their parents. Learning new skills in a complex environment is hard enough on the nerves. Trying to learn from a parent can lead to increased stress. The local driver’s licensing board, or a school’s resource officer, can direct teens – and their parents – to a reputable course.
Parents can help in other ways. They can give their teenagers the benefit of their years of experience, especially by sharing mistakes they've made while behind the wheel.
Teens should also ask their parents if they’d be willing to foot the bill for additional driver training. They might just say yes. If able, teens should offer to pay part of the tuition. This demonstrates responsibility, and helps alleviate some anxiety parents have over their teens first driving experiences.
Select the Right Car
The car used for training is a crucial choice. Many times it’s the family car, but teens who can afford their own vehicles should purchase one recognized for meeting high safety standards. Parents and teenagers can compare automobile safety ratings on new and used vehicles on-line. Look for Consumer Reports findings, or reports on safe vehicles from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
For new drivers, cars with automatic transmissions are smart choices. They take less coordination, ensuring there’s one less thing a teen has to worry about while developing critical driving skills.
Small Successes Breeds Self Confidence
After acquiring a vehicle, it’s time for the apprentice drivers to get behind the wheel. Comfort is important. A teen’s car should fit like a comfortable sports shoe and should accommodate his or her body type.
Newer models have adjustable steering wheels with levers that let teens set the height and angle of the wheel to a comfortable position.
Teens should adjust their side mirrors so they can see the right and left rear of their car, as well as the space behind. They’ll likely change these settings as they gain road experience and become familiar with what works for them, but that should be expected and is a necessary step in becoming comfortable with the car.
Starting the Car
Next, teens should practice starting their car and experiencing how it sounds and feels with the engine running. The first step as to fasten their seat belts (the sooner they start doing this, the sooner it will get to be a habit). They should check to make sure the car is in park and the emergency brake is set. When comfortable they should gently press the gas, taking in how the engine sounds and feels as if vibrates in park.
A car's dashboard is in no way as complex as an airplane's, but can easily be just as confusing to a novice. It's smart practice for teens to learn to recognize and operate the light controls, dimmer switch, turn signals, windshield wiper controls, and those for the heating and air conditioning while safely parked in the driveway.
Teenagers adapt to new situations quickly. Repetition of simple steps reinforces success, and every successful step serves to further a teen’s confidence in his or her abilities.
Teens should equate acquiring their driver's license with starting out on a cross-country road trip. Working with professional driving educators in a car designed for safety and ease of operation and becoming familiar with the car's operational controls within the safety of the driveway is the first leg of the journey. With the completion of these first baby steps, teens should be well on track for acquiring that coveted driver’s license.
Sources:
- Booklet entitled Arrive Alive! Tips & Tactics for Teen Drivers, by Rick Freeland (2002, DragonLyre Publishing)
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