Essential Teen Driving Skills that Parents Need to Teach

According to a new research, teenagers are found to be eight times more likely to be involved in a car accident in the three months after passing their driving test. This is an alarming news for parents especially when you want to start teaching your teenager how to drive. A recent article by Very Well Family, provided a checklist of what parents should teach their teenagers about driving, and the necessary skills they need to be reminded of for a safe or an accident-free driving.

Parents should make sure to teach them very well and observe mastery on their part. Pressuring them to do it right away will be bad since it’s a process.

Stage 1: Learning About Your Vehicle

Stage 1 is about the general orientation of how the vehicle works and what the driver needs to know about the car. Give them a car manual while doing hands-on demonstrations. At the end of it, they should be able to know the following:

• How to start and stop the engine
• How to turn on and off headlights and parking (or running) lights
• How to turn on and off and to adjust windshield wipers• What the various lights on the dashboard mean
• How to fasten seat belts
• How to fuel the vehicle, check the oil, and inflate the tires
• How to change a flat tire
• What to do in case of an accident

Stage 2: The Basic Skills

In this stage, the teen driver will be taught on what they need to know in maneuvering the vehicle. Most of these skills can be learned in empty parking lots. At the end of this lesson, they should be able to do the following:

• Make safe turns, both left and right, including signaling
• Stop the car smoothly
• Shift gears if using a manual transmission
• Back the car safely and straight
• Show awareness of his or her surroundings

Stage 3: Interacting with Other Drivers and Distractions

This stage is what we also call defensive driving and communicating with other drivers. They should be able to learn how to operate a vehicle safely with other drivers, parked cars, pedestrians, and the environment. These skills require beginning in the easiest which is a residential street and gradually move up to different road situations until they feel comfortable and confident. At the end of this stage, your teen should be able to:• Navigate safely through an intersection, including those with signals, four-way stops, two-way stops and uncontrolled intersections

• Make a smooth and safe lane change
• Maintain a "safety cushion" around the vehicle when in traffic
• Drive courteously
• Operate within posted speed limits and obeying traffic signs
• Safely cross railroad tracks• Use mirrors and check blind spots

Stage 4: Parking and Other Turns

This stage is more about parking. Parking is different and most teens get into minor car accidents because of this. Again, teaching them in an empty lot can gradually increase difficulty. They should be able to learn the following during this stage:

• Park safely on a hill, uphill or downhill
• Safely parallel park
• Safely pull into and out of a 90-degree parking space
• Safely pull into and out of a diagonal parking space
• Make a safe U-turn• Make a safe three-point turn

Stage 5: Advanced Skills

The last stage requires everything they learned in the first four stages. Don’t start this stage unless you think that they’ve learned everything under control. At the end of stage 5, they should be able to:

• Drive safely on the freeway, including merging, lane changes, and maintaining safe distances from other vehicles
• Drive safely at night
• Drive safely in ice, snow, and wet weather

Teaching Responsibility in Driving

Throughout the driving lessons, you should be able to discuss them the responsibilities of driving. Here is a list of the responsibilities they need to take note of:

• Car maintenance: knowing to check their vehicle’s engine before driving, changing tires and putting up a warning sign in case of emergencies
• Passenger safety: ensuring his safety and others by making sure the seatbelts are always worn
• Pedestrian safety: teaching your teenager to slow down in school zones, residential area, pedestrian lanes and not mindlessly honking
• Following the law: there are road rules that they need to learn and abide by
• Distracted driving: not using phones or anything that will distract them from focusing on driving
• Financial responsibility: make them understand the costs of driving, the oil change, filling the tank and car insurance
• Responsibility for other drivers: be courteous with other drivers and knowing what to do in an accident

These learning safe driving skills and stages will help them be safe on the road.