Teaching Your Teen To Drive: Tip # 4 - What Should You Teach? What Should They Learn?

"Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them" ~ Donald Rumsfeld.

Alright. I've given you advice on determining whether or not your teen is ready to drive. I've given you tips on how to stay cool, calm, and collected. I've told you where and how to train. You also have pointers on when and how to critique your child's performance.

Now what exactly does your teen need to learn to become a good driver? Here is a list developed by the Illinois Secretary of State in coordination with the Illinois High School and College Driver Education Association. If you can't find your state's guidelines you could do a lot worse than this:

1. Establish a pre-driving routine of all necessary checks and adjustments.
2. Starting and Stopping.
3. Making precise left and right turns from the stop and while in motion.
4. Backing Up.
5. Perpendicular, Angle, and Parallel Parking.
6. Learning which driver is supposed to yield right-of-way in various situations.
7. Lane Changing.
8. Reading and Managing Intersections.
9. Defensive Driving Techniques.

These are the things I teach and then some. I'll address the how, when, where and why of these objectives in later posts.

Before I go I'll leave you with a little, mystery question:

Why does Sweeney always teach his students to pull into the curb before he teaches them to change lanes?