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You Don't Want Your Car to Look Like This!

Welcome back to Teen Driving 101. If you missed our first Session, please refer to No Need to Panic... for tips to get you well on your way to sanely teaching your teen to drive. Fasten your seatbelts. Session #2 will now begin.

• Driving Lesson One: (Take your Tylenol or Advil at least one hour in advance of this outing. Trust me when I say that you will thank me later for this little tidbit of advice.) Take your child to a deserted parking lot. This is an excellent starting point. Show her the ropes by driving in the basic circle that you'd like her to navigate.
• When the budding young driver first gets in the seat, have her fasten her seat belt, reminding her that this is an absolute for everyone in her car at all times.
• Have her adjust the mirrors and seat to her comfort, pointing out the purpose of the various mirrors, etc. Also, point out where potential blind spots exist at this time.
• Ensure that the radio is turned off.
• Don't take any phone calls.
• Remind her to always have her foot on the brake as she is shifting from Park to Drive.
• Breathe deeply and say a few prayers. You're doing great.
• Let her start driving the course you have laid out for her, recognizing that she will not do it quite as planned. Hopefully, if you are truly in a deserted lot, this won't be an issue.
• Have her use turn signals at each possible turn. This is great practice.
• Have her practice parking in spaces several times.

In my opinion, this first lesson should only last about 15 to 20 minutes, and it should be repeated at least two to three times before getting out onto the road. My daughter graduated from the initial lot to an office park where she could move from one parking lot to another without encountering too many other passing cars. Sunday afternoons are ideal for these outings. We stayed in these parking lot scenarios for easily 5 or 6 sessions before proceeding on to "real life" driving situations. Again, this worked great in our case, and I would highly recommend it.

My daughter happens to be very even, level-headed and cautious, so proceeding slowly was the right course of action for her initial training. It gave us both a comfort level that we would not otherwise have had. She has heard horror stories from her friends whose parents threw them onto the street right off the bat with very little training. This method was nerve-wracking for all involved, and I would not recommend it to anyone!

Finally, one last tidbit of additional advice. Do realize that there will be times during your teen's training where you tell her to do the wrong thing. There will be those split-second decisions that you try to tell her what to do, and you might just advise her incorrectly. These are the times, my dear readers, where we have to go on a wing and a prayer that the other drivers are practicing the good defensive driving skills that we are ever so diligently attempting to instill in our young teenagers.

Also, know that there will be rude drivers, perhaps even someone whom you personally recognize after the fact, who will honk at your young driver in frustration over her "slow" or extra cautious driving. Please do your best to remind your teen that these people are RUDE and not to be given a second thought. Try not to let them rankle you, or they will do the same to your child. Hopefully, you yourself have set a good example in this area, only using your horn for its intended purpose!

I will end here on a funny note. On a recent outing with my daughter, the soccer mom behind us honked because apparently my daughter didn't pull out into the traffic when she thought it was appropriate. I tend to get a little irritated with these rude people. My daughter's response, however, was perfect. "Hey, Mom, when she passes us, which you know she is going to do, let's all just smile and wave at her!" So, that's exactly what we did. The woman's jaw dropped. Kill 'em with kindness. You gotta' love this kid!