Teen struggling with driving

[Anonymous]

She does not sound ready. Do us all a favor and keep her off the road until her brain matures some more. No snark intended.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a large metro area and didn't get my licence until after college. I drove a little with my parents as a teen but what really made me better was the one on one instruction from driving school. It was expensive back then (not sure about now) but worth it. I would hope she has significant improvement before you allow here to drive her siblings or friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sign her up for racing school.

This might seem crazy but I think kids can learn a lot of intuitive skills from a good go kart track. Like when to speed up and slow down going around a turn. And how to pass.

Biking on a crowded biking trail also helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know several kids who have either ADHD or non-verbal learning disability who have had a really hard time learning to drive. I have heard that two or three times the required number of practice hours is more realistic when they are learning to compensate for something like that.

Also ditto the recommendation for I Drive Smart.

You have heard wrong. 120 or 180 hours gives the student enough time to develop bad habits that would result in failure on the test. MVA will fail a student for any violation of Maryland law that many of us do everyday and consider as trivial. Rolling through RTOR's, stopping over white stopping lines, and improper turns are all habits that a kid with well over 60 hours tend to develop over time. Far better to take the test at 60 hours or so.

[Anonymous]

My 27yr old SIL is like this. She has totaled 2 cars and one accident she got a horrible neck injury and had to have a spinal fusion. I would never get behind the wheel with her. She does not pay attention. Frankly i think she should have never been given a license. She will kill herself or someone else one day.

[Anonymous]

Try paying for more driving sessions with the driving school. Make sure she gets the best instructor they have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sign her up for racing school.

This might seem crazy but I think kids can learn a lot of intuitive skills from a good go kart track. Like when to speed up and slow down going around a turn. And how to pass.

Biking on a crowded biking trail also helps.

Kids who have experience driving lawn tractors, golf carts, and go-carts turn out to be better drivers. It's a fact.

[Anonymous]

Practice, practice, practice and then more practice. If you want her to drive sibs to school, get her an instructor and have them drive that route until she can do it in her sleep. Build from there. And stop with the judgement. I'm sure she feels it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Practice, practice, practice and then more practice. If you want her to drive sibs to school, get her an instructor and have them drive that route until she can do it in her sleep. Build from there. And stop with the judgement. I'm sure she feels it.

That is exactly what she shouldn't be doing. So many parents think that their kids are great drivers because they drive to and from school without mishap. Where they have real problems is when they get outside their comfort zone and see new things and have to make new decisions. They need to get out and explore so they will be exposed to new stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, people will think I'm crazy, but we have a vacation house in the mountains (very rural) and started teaching our kids to drive at the age of 10. Bu the time they were 16 and could legally hit urban roads, they were confident behind the wheel. Rheybonly had to focus on other cars and what other cars where doing because they already knew how to operate a vehicle.

Yes, you are crazy. No way would I be in the same car with a ten year old. Don't care how rural. He/she could still hit a tree or something.

[Anonymous]

I know it sounds stupid, but teach her to drive angry. I am on the road all the time and a lot of young people are just timid behind the wheel. They need to commit to changing lanes, commit to merging into and out of traffic. By committing you make other drivers aware of your intentions. Indisivness confuses everyone down the line and that is when accidents happen.

[Anonymous]

The scary thing is that, statistically, your daughter at 16-19 is already safer than the average male driver under 30.

As others have noted, the solution involves dozens of hours more of supervised driving. If you can't do it, find someone who can (i.e., an instructor, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several kids who have either ADHD or non-verbal learning disability who have had a really hard time learning to drive. I have heard that two or three times the required number of practice hours is more realistic when they are learning to compensate for something like that.

Also ditto the recommendation for I Drive Smart.

You have heard wrong. 120 or 180 hours gives the student enough time to develop bad habits that would result in failure on the test. MVA will fail a student for any violation of Maryland law that many of us do everyday and consider as trivial. Rolling through RTOR's, stopping over white stopping lines, and improper turns are all habits that a kid with well over 60 hours tend to develop over time. Far better to take the test at 60 hours or so.

This is absolutely wrong. More hours of supervised practice are far, far better than fewer. Only an American would suggest it's better to have less practice before maneuvering a 2 ton vehicle at 16 than more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice, practice, practice and then more practice. If you want her to drive sibs to school, get her an instructor and have them drive that route until she can do it in her sleep. Build from there. And stop with the judgement. I'm sure she feels it.

That is exactly what she shouldn't be doing. So many parents think that their kids are great drivers because they drive to and from school without mishap. Where they have real problems is when they get outside their comfort zone and see new things and have to make new decisions. They need to get out and explore so they will be exposed to new stuff.

The PP said "build from there." But by definition, until it's a comfort zone, it's still "new stuff." What the PP said is exactly what she should be doing--practicing more, and expanding as her skills grow. And yes, limiting judgment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sign her up for racing school.

This might seem crazy but I think kids can learn a lot of intuitive skills from a good go kart track. Like when to speed up and slow down going around a turn. And how to pass.

Biking on a crowded biking trail also helps.

Kids who have experience driving lawn tractors, golf carts, and go-carts turn out to be better drivers. It's a fact.

Agree with the two PPs. Until kids actually operate something they have a hard time understanding concepts of speeding up and slowing down. In fact, when I have a kid in the car for a first drive, one of the first issues we re-discuss is that there are two ways to slow down - by using the brake ~and by taking your foot off of the gas. Kids who have ridden bikes or driven golf carts or go-karts or lawn tractors understand this. Kids who have only 'driven' cars on the tv or computer screen don't get it.