The holidays give you a lot of free time. Free time to get to all the other things that you have to do, like hanging those pictures in the lounge or repotting the ficus that’s long outgrown its baby pot, or teaching your teenager to drive. Now, this last 1 in particular is something that a lot of parents leave to the holidays when they’ve got the time to devote to facing death on a more regular basis.
Obvs the actual teaching of young’uns to drive is best left to the professionals, but the practice runs to perfect their parking skills is something you can have a hand with. If that’s what you have in mind during your December and January holidays, then we’ve got a few tips to help with the learning experience.
Tip 1: The legalities
Before you teach a learner driver, said learner must have a valid learner’s licence, and you must have a valid driver’s licence. Both of you need to have these on you at all times. Another thing to consider from a legal perspective is the checks and terminology in the K53 so that you can make sure that you pass the test. After all, you need to know what’s what before you ask someone else to follow your example.
Lastly, this is a ‘what not to do’ tip. What you don’t need and should avoid is a stiff drink beforehand, much as you might want 1. Oh snap, we went there. Rather save your drink for afterwards, when you’ll really need it.
Tip 2: Plan your route
Whatever you do, don’t drive off aimlessly around the neighbourhood. Seriously, that’s a recipe for disaster. What you want to do instead is find a big, open parking lot and practice a few simple manoeuvres. From there you can head off on a designated route, which means that before all this you’ll need to plan the outing. Aim for off-peak times on quiet roads that provide a good range of stop signs, robots, and yield signs.
Oh, and don’t forget to stick a red ‘L’ in the rear window to warn your fellow drivers that there’s a learner behind the wheel.
Tip 3: Plan the lesson
Now that you’ve got the route plotted out, you can think about what you want to achieve in the lesson. Would you like to focus on parking? On obeying traffic signs? Maybe your driver-in-training wants to practice hill starts?
Whichever lesson you decide on, just remember that no one picks up any single driving skill straight away. No, really. Please read that line again and then remember to pack extra patience into the car with you. Your pupil might not get it at first, or the second time round, or heck… They might not even get it right the thirtieth time.
What you can do to help is to break down driving into a simple series of lessons that they can practice without fear of becoming overwhelmed.
Tip 4: Remember to talk
Think back to when you were learning to drive. Remember when you couldn’t tell the difference between the clutch and the gearbox? Well, your offspring is now in the same boat. This means that you need to communicate calmly about what’s what. It’s all strange and new and they’re relying on you to impart your pearly pearls of wisdom. You should also encourage your progeny to talk to you about what they’re doing before they do it, because it helps them process the lesson all the better.
Oh, and repetition is quite necessary so to make sure that some of what you’re saying actually sinks in, you need to be consistent with the terminology.
Tip 5: Be calm
You’re only human. However, you need to stay calm, because your pupil will make every mistake under the sun, including choke off the engine, grind the gears, and hit some double clutches to boot. If you react strongly, you’ll frighten them and that’ll = more mistakes.
Our last bit of advice is to check your car insurance. Make sure you’re covered and see if there’s anything extra you need to pay or info you need to give your insurer before allowing an under-25-year-old to take control of the steering wheel. If you don’t have car insurance that you can count on, then get a cheap commitment-free car insurance quote today.
