Teen Driver Training Chart For Parents

The largest challenge training, and instructing your teenager to drive an automobile is knowing what to do, and when to do it. Your choices how to train a young teen driver to drive an automobile are many...

• You could teach your future teen driver how to drive an automobile the way you were taught, which is what many parents do.
• You could enroll your teenager in a certified driving school, which is a very good idea even though the cost may be expensive.
• The last option is to use, and follow a training chart.
• The training chart is a schedule that suggests what to do each day you, and your teenager are in the automobile practicing. The Chart is what I used instructing my teenagers to drive.

It is often surprised and shocked the awkward methods parents use instructing teenagers how to become safe drivers. For instance...

• Many parents begin training teen drivers by finding a street lightly traveled, with little to no traffic.
• Typically what happens, the new teen driver is given a few, on-the-spot, verbal lessons how to turn the ignition on/off, and which pedals accelerate and brake the automobile.
• Right after that, the teenager gets behind the steering wheel with trainer-parent in the passenger seat. Together they take the automobile for a careful, and safe ride.
• Without fail more traffic than expected is on the road.
• Reality kicks in! The parent realizes how unready the teenager is to drive, and how potentially dangerous training may be.

Millions of motorists first experience learning how to drive an automobile similar to what I just described. It's not the best way, nor the safest way to instruct your teenager to be a safe teen driver.

Here is a quick overview what you want to do instead -- you want to methodically take your new teen driver through nine (9) distinct steps.

Parking Lot:

Take your teenager to a open parking lot area, like a shopping mall, or somewhere no cars can interfere. The last place to begin training a new teen driver is pedestrian streets/roads, no matter how much traffic may be traveling them.

Street driving:

Once your young teen driver demonstrates control over a few fundament skills, go the next step driving low-traffic pedestrian streets, and roads.

Destination driving ? supermarket, church, high school, movie theater... As your young teen driver's skills progress effectively managing traffic, practice driving to locations he/she is likely to frequent or visit. By the time your Teen Driver is ready to drive solo, going to these destinations will be familiar.

Freeway driving:

At some point your Teen Driver is going to drive on freeways at speeds equaling and exceeding 55 miles per hour. Judge how ready your teenager is to take this next step. Freeways are dangerous to drive when inexperience, especially entering, and exiting them.

Map driving:

Here, you and your Teen Driver can practice the finer points of driving, which include following a map and driving in areas somewhat unfamiliar. Teach your young teen driver where to safely stop for directions to reach a certain destination. Have him/her do it a few times.

Night street driving:

It is one thing to drive in the daylight, it is another experience to drive at night. Basically, your Teen Driver?s training sessions start over. But this time at a different level of risk and skill level required.

Situation driving:

Simulate and role play real life driving situations your Teen Driver will encounter. In these sessions, you will carefully introduce to your Teen Driver distractions, tensions and temptations to learn resisting, and managing. For instance, pretend being a peer-teenager. Talk about how your teen driver should manage the situation.

Self-Direct:

Here you will probably have the most fun as Parent/Coach. The goal is to build your Teen Driver?s base of experience with hours of unstructured driving. Have your young teen driver chauffer you on errands; judge whether your young teen driver can join the rotation driving on longer trips.

Within each of these training steps, organize as many days your new teen driver needs to learn how to adequately handle the automobile.

** By James and Felisa Winfield; parents of two teenage boys and provided and studied for teen-driving guidelines, instruction, helpful hints, statistics.