Teen learning to drive? (1 Viewer)

Darson

Full House
Supporter
Joined
May 8, 2018
Messages
4,661
Reaction score
13,390
Location
Richmond, TX
I guess you degenerates are as good as any to give me advice on this. My son has turned 15 and I guess it's time for him to learn to drive. In the UK, I would just get him driving lessons but here in Texas there seem to be a plethora of options available. And the local driving school wants $500 for 7 hours of behind the wheel instruction - is this reasonable/cheap/expensive? I see there are online driver's ed options also.

So what do y'all do? Teach the kids yourself? Do they have driver's ed in school or is that only in movies?
 
I taught both of my daughters. A little scary at first, but very easy to do.
 
In Oregon, you get an insurance discount if you teen driver had driver's ed (at least with State Farm), but the savings over time on your insurance didn't exceed the discount, so I didn't bother. I just taught mine myself.
 
You can be the instructor for your child. They have to take the exam and get the learners' permit. You keep log of hours of "driving lessons" with the parent as the instructor....meet the minimum...and then they can take the driving test.

I was the instructor for my daughter a couple of years ago. My son will be turning 15 this year so we'll go that route again.
 
I guess you degenerates are as good as any to give me advice on this. My son has turned 15 and I guess it's time for him to learn to drive. In the UK, I would just get him driving lessons but here in Texas there seem to be a plethora of options available. And the local driving school wants $500 for 7 hours of behind the wheel instruction - is this reasonable/cheap/expensive? I see there are online driver's ed options also.

So what do y'all do? Teach the kids yourself? Do they have driver's ed in school or is that only in movies?
When i was living in arizona (20 years ago...) there was a class i could take at my highschool, i think it was called safety education. Simulator driving and studying rules etc. After passing the class the insurance was cheaper. But no idea if there is still something like that available..
 
I remember those days. You’ll find yourself sayin stop…stop… a lot. Get yourself a liberal amount of Valium!

I logged plenty of hours driving with my kids but also had a driving school. I found that sometimes kids can take direction better from someone other than their parents.

Good luck! He’ll do just fine!
 
I don't know if there are still open wide areas, even in beautiful Texas.
I was taught to drive by my late dad in such a wide, free stretch of land.
With a clutch pedal, and a manual gearbox, of course. Without that, even an internet simulator would be fine.

Always remind to your kids that moving/directing a 5K to 10K lbs assembly of iron can be lethal at all times.
5mph is enough to kill outsiders and 15mph is enough to cripple insiders for life, if they 're not buckled up.

Henry Ford and Adolph Hitler have done a huge disservice to mankind by introducing the principle of "each citizen, a car driver" (not really different than " each citizen an airman" and "each citizen a boat captain").
 
That sounds very much inline to what I’m paying. In Massachusetts the kids need to also drive 40 hours with their parents with at least 10 of the hours at night. The Road Ready app is excellent and keeps a log of time, distance and weather conditions.
 
I would recommend some online classes and teaching the rest yourself.
I took drivers ed about 10 years ago it was like 300 bucks, I learned more from my parents and driving around the house/town than I did from those instructors. They teach you driving by the "book" and take you out in the car telling you when to accelerate, break, use a turn signal, the first time you get in the car with out the instructor you are lost because your coach isn't coaching you lol
My dad taught me to parallel park, and drive downtown with street parking on both sides in his F250 diesel.. not fun, but I learned haha

Edit: and to this day I still cant answer who goes first at a 4 way stop with 4 cars
 
I'm teaching my oldest right now. She took an online driver's ed course through Florida Virtual School, then took and passed the written test to get her learner's permit. We go out a couple times a week for practice, plus little drives here and there.

It was nerve wracking at first (especially since she's in that "I'm always right and I don't have to listen to you" stage of teenagerhood). But after the first few times, she's getting better and I kind of look forward to it. She's a captive audience during our drives, so it gives us a chance to talk that we don't often get at home because internet and little sisters. :rolleyes:
 
and to this day I still cant answer who goes first at a 4 way stop with 4 cars
Here's the easy way to do it:

When you stop at the sign, let the first car at each of the other stop signs go before you. Then it's your turn.
 
I took driver's education in school....for free. It was after school for one or two days a week for multiple weeks. It definitely helped versus my parents, because I was taught how to handle a skid on snow by being put in a skid on snow.

That said, I learned how to drive a clutch vehicle when I was 14 and my parents let me drive on our private parking lot. Not typical, obviously.

As soon as I was eligible, my dad took me for my learner's permit. Once we were about 5 miles from home, he had me drive. First time I'd been at a speed more than 15 mph. That day was the last day my mother drive a car if I was going wherever she was going. And let's face it, at 15, I was going wherever she was going.

The day I turned 16, I aced my written and passed my driver's test.

All that to say, a bit of a combination is good.
 
We have a number of government buildings not too far away. Took my son there numerous times, always on a Sunday. The monster sized parking lots never had a single car, and no one around.
Great place to start.
 
In Texas your kid has to have either a drivers Ed course, or you have to fill out the parent instruction forms. We did drivers Ed, it came with whatever hours of classroom instruction that was needed to get the permit and then 7 or 8 instructor lead drive times. Pre-covid the sessions were 2 hours, an hour of driving and an hour of observation.

We liked the drivers Ed, because let's face it, kids don't listen to their parents. Driving with a facilitator was good for them. We started the lessons in the school parking lot, and then on the neighborhood streets.

Good luck!
 
This is so interesting to hear how driving instruction is done in other states. Growing up in Southern Utah all I ever knew was Drivers Ed, which pretty much everyone did between the ages of 15-16 and was taught through the high school. I don’t think anyone in my town learned through private instructors - drivers Ed seemed to be a requirement.

I took mine as a 1 week course in the summer a few months before I turned 16 (full school-length days of instruction with a few hours on super old school simulator machines). It was taught in the portables back behind the high school. You also had to do a handful of driving sessions with the drivers Ed instructor and another student or two. They usually went like this: one student would drive around town for 15 minutes or so before jumping on the freeway and driving to a town 40 or so minutes away. We’d stop and get a snack from the gas station and then switch places and the other student would drive back.

Of course we also did as much driving as we could with family when we had the chance. My dad always let me drive home from football practice at night when I had my learner’s permit.
 
My son will also enjoy this =D
I have to say for a rookie 16 yr old girl trying to fill her dads shoes, and not do any harm to his baby made me soooo nervous haha
I had alot of fun and learned alot, which actually proved helpful now as I have an F150 for my daily driver. Always fancied trucks over cars, the bigger the better haha
 
OK, I'll sign him up for the online course for the "ed" part and handle the driving practice with him. He has plenty of time since he can't take his test until he's 16 and he only turned 15 in June. He has been taking the cars in and out of the garage since he was 12 and has been driving around our garden a few times so he knows what all the knobs and buttons do. He's a good kid and listens to his dad so I think he'll be fine.

My daughter, however, I'll let someone else teach since she doesn't listen to a word I say... but that's not for another 3 years.
 
OK, I'll sign him up for the online course for the "ed" part and handle the driving practice with him. He has plenty of time since he can't take his test until he's 16 and he only turned 15 in June. He has been taking the cars in and out of the garage since he was 12 and has been driving around our garden a few times so he knows what all the knobs and buttons do. He's a good kid and listens to his dad so I think he'll be fine.

My daughter, however, I'll let someone else teach since she doesn't listen to a word I say... but that's not for another 3 years.
Make sure you get all the parent forms - you have to log all the hours and that year will go by fast!
 
Used HS Drivers Ed here in NC [thank God]. If I had to teach triplets all how to drive at the same time, I would have shot myself. Only one took to it early on and she totaled the hand me down car I gave her within a month. A student suddenly stopped for no apparent reason and it lead to 4 cars being rear ended plus her car getting totaled. I can't wait until they have to pay for their own insurance. Best of luck!
 
I remember when my son was getting to be that age and I was trying to decide what approach to take. Then I saw him playing a street racing video game and realized he already knew how to make driving decisions. No training needed. Just a little practice.
 
In NY driving schools give you X number of one hour on road training lessons, the mandatory six hour course, and the road test for a fee. If you show up for the road test in the driving school car, you are almost guaranteed to pass. If you teach your kids, you show up for the road test in a personal car, and you are almost guaranteed to FAIL. I am not saying you cannot teach your kids to drive. I am saying the desired end result is to pass that road test. You may want to consider the driving school just for that reason.
 
I'm starting my 13 year old on lawn tractors, zero turns, and golf carts. After that, we will graduate to a very open parking lot with a real car. There will be more tests, but the final test is to drive a manual transmission through a cemetery.
 
My son just turned 15 also and got his permit last week. For some reason I remember when I was his age having a few classroom sessions after hours at the high school and about 1 hour of road test and I was off and running.... lol

Now it was a full 2 week classroom session for like 2 hours a day and then 6 driving sessions over those two weeks. I think it cost us $400. Pretty much the standard here in Michigan. For a few weeks previous to the class I would take him out in my F-150 and let him drive around the sub division just to get used to handling the vehicle. Now that he has his permit he needs 30-40 hours of road time with us that he has to track through an App on his phone. Then he goes back for phase II of the program which is 3 more road sessions with an instructor and then like 60 more hours of road time with us before getting his official license when he turns 16.
 
here they have to have class room and behind the wheel. My daughter was able to do the classroom through online classes for like $50 and the behind the wheel was around $300, but that as 5 years ago now.
 
All the advice here is solid. All I want to contribute to the conversation is this:

Please PLEASE do whatever it takes to educate your kids on the perils of distracted driving. These are images from an accident I was in July 1st. My right knee was severely injured and I'm still recovering. In short, a 17 year old girl in a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (admittedly) ran a red light and hit my SUV in an intersection where the speed limit is 50 mph. Use these images as a powerful teaching tool.

20210702_154308.jpg


20210702_155617.jpg


20210702_154330.jpg


PXL_20210702_231625627.jpg
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom