Is your 14yo taking driving lessons or practicing driving?

[Anonymous]

Practice being a navigator and scanning the road for threats. Study traffic laws.

Play driving simulator video games

[Anonymous]

What I think is absolutely bonkers is there are so many parents that don’t let their 13-15 year olds sit in the front seat. How are you supposed to be a good driver at 15 1/2 when you get your permit if you have no experience scanning traffic, observing intersections, navigating.

My kids moved to the front seat at 10. I have been talking about how to be a safe driver since then. I make them navigate, ask them questions, point out things- look that car is going to run the red because they entered the intersection as the light went from yellow to red, look a school bus so get ready to stop, that drivers looks like they are 100 so give them space, etc.

They started driving in parking lots at 15. The younger one was with us when we visited a family’s rural property so drove slowly on their property at 14. They easily passed their drivers tests at 16.

It seems so strange there are so many kids who aren’t learning to drive or who barely drive in 11th and 12th grade. A friend’s daughter got her license senior year and barely has driven. Now she is going to college in an urban setting so won’t be driving there. So at 22 if she needs to drive she won’t really have had experience.

[Anonymous]

It's illegal in most places. When I was 15, all the "cool" kids would brag about driving. The same kids would brag about smoking, doing drugs, drinking, and having sex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I think is absolutely bonkers is there are so many parents that don’t let their 13-15 year olds sit in the front seat. How are you supposed to be a good driver at 15 1/2 when you get your permit if you have no experience scanning traffic, observing intersections, navigating.

My kids moved to the front seat at 10. I have been talking about how to be a safe driver since then. I make them navigate, ask them questions, point out things- look that car is going to run the red because they entered the intersection as the light went from yellow to red, look a school bus so get ready to stop, that drivers looks like they are 100 so give them space, etc.

They started driving in parking lots at 15. The younger one was with us when we visited a family’s rural property so drove slowly on their property at 14. They easily passed their drivers tests at 16.

It seems so strange there are so many kids who aren’t learning to drive or who barely drive in 11th and 12th grade. A friend’s daughter got her license senior year and barely has driven. Now she is going to college in an urban setting so won’t be driving there. So at 22 if she needs to drive she won’t really have had experience.

Because it doesn't add to your driving skills long term to learn at 16 vs 19 or 25, PP. The teen age group is BY VERY FAR the one with most fatal accidents behind the wheel. So there's no incentive to start young, unless you have an impediment to driving your teen to school or activities (what did you do before, then?). I keep reading on DCUM that "this is how we used to do it", but if you're intellectually honest with yourself, convention and tradition are not winning arguments.

I got my license at 19, even though I didn't need it because I lived in a big city with great public transport. My cousin learned to drive in her 30s. She's a perfectly good driver - just didn't need to learn before. DC1 learned to drive at 17 during the pandemic because we were stir-crazy, not because it was a "rite of passage". He's in an urban college and doesn't drive now We'll see what DC2 wants to do.

You sound a bit like the parents of younger kids who like to out-boast each other on how young their kids were when they started chores. Newsflash: it doesn't matter. Chores are easy. There's no barrier to entry. I left my parents' home without having done much laundry, grocery shopping or cooking, and lo and behold, had no trouble whatsoever looking after myself and cooking with my boyfriend, then husband, then kids. None of these things are difficult!

You get no parenting bonus points for foisting chores, teen jobs and driving onto your kids early. Parents often don't realize it, but a lot of what motivates them is just empty virtue-signaling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are in the DMV but I did not realize there are places that will give lessons to teens before they receive their permits. I hadn’t really looked much into this because as I mentioned, I never pre-planned as a teen back then.

I’m curious if things changed when high schools stopped offering drivers Ed as a course?

Pnever heard of this.no way my teen was not allowed behind the wheel until she had her permit which in Va is allowed at 15 and 6 months and permit for 9 months after

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I think is absolutely bonkers is there are so many parents that don’t let their 13-15 year olds sit in the front seat. How are you supposed to be a good driver at 15 1/2 when you get your permit if you have no experience scanning traffic, observing intersections, navigating.

My kids moved to the front seat at 10. I have been talking about how to be a safe driver since then. I make them navigate, ask them questions, point out things- look that car is going to run the red because they entered the intersection as the light went from yellow to red, look a school bus so get ready to stop, that drivers looks like they are 100 so give them space, etc.

They started driving in parking lots at 15. The younger one was with us when we visited a family’s rural property so drove slowly on their property at 14. They easily passed their drivers tests at 16.

It seems so strange there are so many kids who aren’t learning to drive or who barely drive in 11th and 12th grade. A friend’s daughter got her license senior year and barely has driven. Now she is going to college in an urban setting so won’t be driving there. So at 22 if she needs to drive she won’t really have had experience.

Moving your kid to the front seat at 10 is just flat out dumb. If the airbag inflates they are much more likely to sustain injuries because airbags are meant to protect adults. The minimum age that you should move children to the front seat is 13 but if they are smaller for their age it’s better to wait a bit longer. What’s the rush?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I think is absolutely bonkers is there are so many parents that don’t let their 13-15 year olds sit in the front seat. How are you supposed to be a good driver at 15 1/2 when you get your permit if you have no experience scanning traffic, observing intersections, navigating.

My kids moved to the front seat at 10. I have been talking about how to be a safe driver since then. I make them navigate, ask them questions, point out things- look that car is going to run the red because they entered the intersection as the light went from yellow to red, look a school bus so get ready to stop, that drivers looks like they are 100 so give them space, etc.

They started driving in parking lots at 15. The younger one was with us when we visited a family’s rural property so drove slowly on their property at 14. They easily passed their drivers tests at 16.

It seems so strange there are so many kids who aren’t learning to drive or who barely drive in 11th and 12th grade. A friend’s daughter got her license senior year and barely has driven. Now she is going to college in an urban setting so won’t be driving there. So at 22 if she needs to drive she won’t really have had experience.

Moving to the front seat at 10 is dumb. Very unsafe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD believes she is the only teen in her group not learning to drive. I grew up in DC and back then it was never really a thing in my circle to be learning way before the test to drive.

I am surprised many are learning this early. I did not take lessons until right before my driving test for my learners.

Are she and her friends close to 15? In NC, my nieces and nephews all started learning at what felt like a very young age to me: 14, going on 15.

Are you in suburbs or DC proper near bus and metro? My kid has zero interest in driving right now, but buses and metro's all the time because it is so easy and right out our front door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD believes she is the only teen in her group not learning to drive. I grew up in DC and back then it was never really a thing in my circle to be learning way before the test to drive.

I am surprised many are learning this early. I did not take lessons until right before my driving test for my learners.

Are she and her friends close to 15? In NC, my nieces and nephews all started learning at what felt like a very young age to me: 14, going on 15.

Are you in suburbs or DC proper near bus and metro? My kid has zero interest in driving right now, but buses and metro's all the time because it is so easy and right out our front door.

That's normal in NC. You can get a permit at 15, but you need six hours behind the wheel with a driving teacher before the permit, not after which seems to be the standard around here. You can take that driver's ed at 14 1/2. I did the driving portion of drivers ed at the very beginning of my freshman year of high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's illegal in most places. When I was 15, all the "cool" kids would brag about driving. The same kids would brag about smoking, doing drugs, drinking, and having sex.

Actually it’s not. There are many states where teens are eligible to start driver’s ed classes at 14 and 8 months

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are in the DMV but I did not realize there are places that will give lessons to teens before they receive their permits. I hadn’t really looked much into this because as I mentioned, I never pre-planned as a teen back then.

I’m curious if things changed when high schools stopped offering drivers Ed as a course?

They can’t legally drive in VA u til 15.5 (when they can get their permit). They are supposed to drive prior to behind the wheel.

That said we started taking DC to parking lots away from ppl and letting her drive down our residential street (both with us) around 15 years.

[Anonymous]

My newly 15 yo has been driving for a while now. We live in a rural area, though, and he has been mowing/driving our RTV/tractor/etc for years.

If I lived in DC I would absolutely have taught him in an empty parking lot at 14.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in a small city in the DMV area. Spouse called the police to ask if we could teach kid to drive in a parking lot before they had a permit. The answer was yes!! I was not in agreement as this breaks Maryland law. The police said they would not enforce it so to go ahead...??!??!!

I let my 15 year old drive in a parking lot. He slammed into a pole. A lot of damage.

That’s on you. Why didn’t you supervise better?

[Anonymous]

Do you live on a farm?

[Anonymous]

I live in Alberta, and we start driving lessons at 14. You can get your learners permit at 14 which means you can drive with a permitted adult in the vehicle, actively teaching. Ie they cannot be a drunk adult using their 14 y/o as an uber driver. At 16 you can take your drivers test, but generally kids have been learning since 14 and fairly confident already.