Teaching Your Teen to Drive

Teaching your teen to drive can be a tedious and sometimes irritating experience. With the proper mindset and attitude, your teen will be confident on the road in no time. 

Once your teen receives their learner’s permit in which they can drive with you in the car, you must act as a coach to them. The first step to take once your teen receives their learners permit is to take them to an empty parking lot to safely practice being behind the wheel for the first time. This will teach them basic but very necessary skills such as braking, turning, coming to a complete stop and more. The more time they have behind the wheel, the more comfortable they will become. The best way to teach your teen to drive is to let your teen know what to do followed by how to do it. This will require patience and planning ahead to know the route you will drive, the speed zones of the roads, and the skills they will be exercising. 

You will want to start slow, will little to no cars around, to let your teen get comfortable using the car. Once your teen is comfortable driving in an empty parking lot, try moving to a road with little traffic, and then onto the main road once their confidence has increased. The best time to practice driving with your teen is during daylight and in good weather. Once your teen has grasped basic driving skills and seems comfortable on the road, this is when you can introduce night time driving and driving during inclement weather. 

While driving is an essential aspect of passing a driving test, you must also teach your teen how to inspect their car, fuel it up, adjust all the mirrors, turn on headlights, and more. Being thorough and informative while your teen practices their driving skills will help them become more confident in what they may at first be anxious about. 

Teaching your teen to drive can be extremely nerve-wracking. If you take your time, acting patiently with your teen, they will be able to drive safely and efficiently in no time!