Help! My Teens Are Making Killer Turns!! Part I

Dear Mr. Driving Instructor:

I'm having all kinds of trouble getting my son John-Boy to take left turns correctly.

John-Boy has trouble staying out of the oncoming lane when he makes left turns. He always ends up straddling the yellow line and then has to slide back to the right. We've almost had a few head on collisions. Driving with John-Boy makes my hair stand on end! I really dread those left turns of his.

How do I get him to do it right every time?

A Scared and Desperate Dad


Dear Scared and Desperate Dad,

It would be better if I could be in the car with your son before I diagnose his driving problems, however from what you describe it sounds like John-Boy might be suffering from one of the following:

1. He could be initiating his steering too soon. Does he begin to turn the steering wheel for these left turns before your vehicle's front end has entered the intersection? If so he is beginning the turn too early. He ought to wait until his steering wheel is even with the the near curb of the road he is turning into. This ensures that his vehicles nose has entered the intersection and gives him a better angle of approach on that right lane.

2. It could be that John-Boy is approaching the turn at an excessive speed. The target speed for most turns is 10 miles an hour. If he's not slowing down as he approaches the turn, he's probably rushing his steering. (See paragraph above) Make sure he's tapered the car's speed down to 10 mph by the time the front end of your car is even with the cross walk before the intersection you're turning into. (Assuming there is no stop sign, pedestrians or vehicular traffic in his path of travel.)

3. If John-Boy is not guilty of either of the first two infractions, it could be that he is simply over-steering. You can help him cure this by reminding him to turn his head to the left and look into his intended path of travel before he starts moving his hands to steer into it. He's got to be aiming at the right lane before he can take the car there. Remember people tend to steer towards where they are looking. Have him look at the right place and the car will go there. Too many new drivers just fixate on the area directly in front of them by looking exclusively over the hood. Make him move his head and eyes to the left before he moves the steering wheel and that should cure his over-steering problems.

Happy Motoring,

The Driving Instructor