Teaching our teens how to drive

[Uncle Jesse]

Buy a full size van as thier first car. With all the sex he'll be getting in the back of it he'll be to worn out to drive fast.

[Evil Knievel]

Just Saying wrote:

My almost 17 year old daughter is taking driver's ed now. Her teacher began the class by showing them pictures of fatal crashes involving teens, and asking them why he should allow them to drive on his roads. He definitely made an impression! It's a 6 week program, and she attends class every day for an hour and a half, and drives 3 days a week. Then she has to pass the toughest test, driving with me!

When I attended driver's ed in high school many years ago i had to pick two street corners of my choice, sit there for a few hours, and log every car that drove thru the intersection noting what law was broken (if any). I remember every car broke every law which, at that time, was only rolling thru a stop sign and speeding thru a yellow light. Of course today I could add using a cell phone and seat belt violations.

If you havent, direct your daughter (and her friends) to Newsday's pictorial on accidents on Long Island. They are not graphic but the damaged car photos should be enough to drive the point home. My son is in his 20's and i show these to him. its never too late.

[Death Race]

Uncle Jesse wrote:

Buy a full size van as thier first car. With all the sex he'll be getting in the back of it he'll be to worn out to drive fast.

Best suggestion so far.

[Death Race]

Evil Knievel wrote:

<quoted text>
When I attended driver's ed in high school many years ago i had to pick two street corners of my choice, sit there for a few hours, and log every car that drove thru the intersection noting what law was broken (if any). I remember every car broke every law which, at that time, was only rolling thru a stop sign and speeding thru a yellow light. Of course today I could add using a cell phone and seat belt violations.
If you havent, direct your daughter (and her friends) to Newsday's pictorial on accidents on Long Island. They are not graphic but the damaged car photos should be enough to drive the point home. My son is in his 20's and i show these to him. its never too late.

Take your kid to a junkyard and show him some real wrecks with bits of hair and skin still in them.

[Evil Knievel]

Death Race wrote:

<quoted text>
Take your kid to a junkyard and show him some real wrecks with bits of hair and skin still in them.

Good idea. Just like "Scared Straight".

[Just Wondering]

Evil Knievel wrote:

<quoted text>
Good idea. Just like "Scared Straight".

Exactly right - sometimes you have to shock people out of their complacency.

[MR OY]

How about teaching them to walk. I'll bet 90% of youth today have never walked to a friends house or school. If they want to drive let them get their own ca. Parents should see how their precious kids beat the heack out of their cars.

[was a NYer]

MR OY wrote:

How about teaching them to walk. I'll bet 90% of youth today have never walked to a friends house or school. If they want to drive let them get their own ca. Parents should see how their precious kids beat the heack out of their cars.

Excellent point.

[Evil Knievel]

MR OY wrote:

How about teaching them to walk. I'll bet 90% of youth today have never walked to a friends house or school. If they want to drive let them get their own ca. Parents should see how their precious kids beat the heack out of their cars.

Good point except then they will fall between the gaps on the Syosset LIRR platform and sue everyone under the sun for their own incompetence.

[Brat]

MR OY wrote:

How about teaching them to walk. I'll bet 90% of youth today have never walked to a friends house or school.

Walk to school? OMG, like I can't do that. And I can't take the cheese wagon either. WAaaaaaaaaaaa, Daddy buy me a BMW (or whatever brand spanking new high powered deathmobile).

[Anon]

Death Race wrote:

How many of these kids are going to try these tricks on the road just for fun?

I was an instructor that day. This is not a performance driving school. It is a one-on-one session for new drivers (17-21) to discover how to react to surprise situations, to pass on stories that may give a new driver something to think about before they act the fool on the road, and how their cars handling is effected by wet pavement in a controlled situation.