Teaching Your Teen To Drive: Objective # 3 - Taking Turns

"Knowledge is gained by learning; trust by doubt; skill by practice; and love by love." ~ Thomas S. Szasz

How does a parent go about teaching a brand new, inexperienced driver how to make proper turns?

Here are the step by step instructions:

#1 - Get behind the wheel to show and explain the proper steps for turning corners. Tell your student when and where to start turning and how to straighten the front wheels for coming out of a turn. Have the kid watch your hands as well as the road.

For a left turn you might use the following script while you demonstrate:

Check your rear view mirror and signal your turn at least 100 feet (about two houses) before the intersection.

Slow down as you approach the intersection and position your car next to the center line as you get closer to the corner.

Look left for cross traffic, look right for cross traffic, look across the intersection for oncoming traffic, and look to your left a second time.

When it is safe to do so - drive to the point where your steering wheel is even with the left corner curb (that straight line of concrete to our left), look out the drivers side window, and begin steering into the lane just to the right of the yellow (center) line.

You should move your eyes towards the right (out the front windshield) as the car progresses into the turn.

Just before the front of the car is perfectly straight begin begin steering back to the right until the car is moving forward in a straight line.

By the way, you're going to have to take very slow turns if you're going to coordinate the words with the actions during the demonstration.

#2 - Find a good place to turn the car over to your new driver. If you can find an empty parking lot, mark out a 200' by 200' rectangle and mark the corners with orange safety cones (or sand filled bottles). If you can't find a parking lot, find a quiet neighborhood with straight streets and 90 degree intersections.

#3 - Review the lessons from Starting and Stopping. Afterwards have the student demonstrate the hand-over-hand technique while the selector lever is in park and engine idles. Then have the student start making left turns very slowly. You can coach by telling him where to start steering, when to hold the steering wheel in place, and when to start straightening. You should be ready to assist his steering with your left hand.

#4 - After making the first few turns begin emphasizing proper eye habits. Learning to visualize the proper turn path and "looking into and through the turn" are essential to making smooth and precise turns.

#5 - Practice right turns in the same manner. Remember to keep things slow.

#6 - If you've been working in a parking lot up to this point, move the lesson out into the streets. It's time to start practicing proper positioning and signalling in a quiet, low traffic area. Your job just became more complicated because now you have to watch the traffic in addition to coaching. Take an aspirin or two.

#7 - You can begin to gradually speed up the maneuvers. The timing of the steering and braking is closely tied to the speed of the car. The faster your student drives the more difficult the turns become.

#8 - Your teen should learn that the time to begin the straightening process is when the front wheels, not the hood, start to point down the street being turned into.

#9 - Progress to areas where you can take a variety of turns. Your teen should learn how to turn from the halt, while moving, when positioned on a hill top, when positioned at the base of a hill, at corners with both sharp and rounded curbs, and from narrow streets to wide streets.

Have fun. And remember this takes time.

See also:

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

Help! My Teens Are Taking Killer Turns!! Part II

Keep That Right Heel On The Floor

"Beware the man who won't be bothered with the details" ~ William Feather

Many parents ignore foot positioning when coaching their new drivers. It seems so trivial and insignificant, but it's so vital.

When moving the right foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal, the heel should not lift off the floor. The foot should pivot on the heel, which stays planted while the upper foot swivels back and forth between the pedals.

Don't let your teen get away with lifting the foot completely off the gas to slide it over to the brake. It uses up too much time.

"But Sweeney, it only costs a second. What's that? Hardly anything!"

Well my friend, one second at 45 mph equals an extra 66 feet before even beginning to brake. Add that to the young driver's inexperience and slow decision making and you have TROUBLE!

Supervise Your Licensed Teen With High-Tech and Common Sense

"Trust, but verify" ~ Damon Runyon

James Winfield, President and CEO of DriveHomeSafe.com, discovered he had a problem with his children soon after they earned their driver's licenses:

"Within weeks after my new teen drivers were driving solo, I realized they knew enough about driving to be a hazard to themselves (and others)...

Technically, they knew how to drive an automobile. ( I made sure of that).On the surface, they appeared to be able drivers. They could drive an automobile as well at night as they could in daylight. Our new teen drivers could do everything fundamentally necessary or legal to drive an automobile.

What they didn't have and desperately needed was experience and good judgment, which time and maturity could only provide...They get into situations, and do things operating an automobile outside their range of skill and experience to handle...Speeding, and driving recklessly are two misjudgments new drivers do."

Although I do not agree that reckless driving is merely a matter of "judgement", I heartily approve of the steps he took to correct the problem. This is what he did:


1. Negotiated a Teen Driving Contract: The Winfield Family established a basis of mutual agreement and understanding.


2. Eliminated distractions that got in the way of solving the problem of speeding by temporarily stripping the car of its stereo system.


3. Confronted peer pressure issues and circumstances.


4. Installed an easy-to-use Electronic Monitoring Unit to know if the automobile is speeding or driven recklessly.


5. Established geographic boundaries which expanded as the teens' experience grew.


6. Drove in separate automobiles when going to the same destination - teen drivers in one, adults in the other. His kids liked this arrangement. It fed into their need for independence. However, Winfield and his wife did it to gauge how their teen drivers really drove when they didn't have the parents in the same automobile with them.


7. Refused to take Speeding Tickets or Moving Violations lightly.


8. Put responsibility on their teen drivers to financially pay the consequences of their poor driving behavior. Winfield's kids paid for their automobile insurance. The parents paid the monthly car payments. When the teens messed up by driving in ways that caused their insurance rates to increase, they felt it financially. When their insurance premium payment rate decreased due to responsible driving, they benefited.

Winfield reports that this combination of tactics was highly successful and that it forced his teenagers to drive correctly.

Also Winfield is really sold on electronic monitoring devices. There is one system that made the news recently which I find quite interesting. It's called DriveCam.

DriveCam's exception-based video event recorder is mounted on the windshield behind the rear-view mirror and captures sights and sounds inside and outside the vehicle. G-forces (e.g. hard braking, swerving, collision, etc.) cause the recorder to save the 10 seconds immediately before and after the triggered event. Saved events are downloaded, analyzed and assigned a risk score to coach drivers, improve driving behavior and figure out who is to blame in collisions.

The system reminds me of fighter plane gun-cameras. Check out the video clips at the above link. The diver in this clip is a real prize!

I think Mr. Winfield is on to something. I believe his tactics when taken together get the job done. The mission being to keep your teen driver alive.

Here's a final word from James Winfield:

"If it bothers you that your teen driver may cry invasion of privacy, get over it and don't let it stop you. Preventing an automobile accident is what parenting is about. Bottom line, this is not a trust issue, it's about protecting your teen driver from misjudgments teens too often make when driving."

Well said, sir! Well done, sir!

Is Your Teen Ready To Begin Driver's Training?

"Experience teaches only the teachable" ~ Vernon Law

Did you ever hear the story about the man who was so eager for his son to begin Driver's Ed that he rushed over to the driving school before classes were scheduled to start?

"You really didn't need to do that," said the school administrator. "Your son could have given that to the instructor on the first day."

"I couldn't trust my son with that check," the father answered.

I wonder what made dad think that his son would be anymore trustworthy behind the wheel of a two thousand pound guided missle. Just because parents have tossed more than 180 calendar pages into the trash since their youngster was born does not automatically mean the kid is ready to drive.

You've got to consider three things before putting your teen on the cold, cruel road.

1. Is your teen able to control the vehicle?

• Does he/she have sufficient size and strength to operate the controls?
• Good vision?
• Good reflexes?
• Good coordination?
• The ability to process information quickly, weigh risks, and arrive at good split second conclusions?

2. Is your teen willing to learn? Can he memorize traffic laws and then apply that knowledge to real life conditions while operating the car?

3. Is your teen emotionally mature? Can she handle setbacks while remaining cooperative with you, the instructor, and other drivers?

If your child is not ready, it's better to wait before beginning driver training. Although your teens may interpet such delay as punishment you are giving them time to mature and develop to the point where they can drive right.

You're not doing them (or the world) any favors by letting them drive too soon. I'm sure you don't want to kill your teen with 'kindness'.

Teaching Your Teen To Drive - Tip # 3 Critique On The Spot

"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery" ~ Mark van Doren

Talk to your teen as you travel together. Give him the benefit of your vast experience by speaking aloud your stream of conciousness in regards to the traffic situation. Analyze the situation ahead just like you always do, but now remember to turn up the speaker system and let the kid hear the hundreds of observations and decisions you have to make to stay alive during a simple trip to the mall.

Your kid has been watching you drive for a long time. Over the last fifteen years you've made it look so easy he just might think he can just step in and do even better than the old folks.

Then he gets behind the wheel and finds out it's not as easy as it looks.

So help your teen sharpen his awareness, focus and decision making by including him in a continuous verbal expression of what you are seeing and reacting to on the cold, cruel road. After a few trips, get him to start talking too. This allows both of you to know what the other is thinking, seeing and planning.

I've found that it's best to compliment good moves and point out errors immediately and then move on. This is mainly because I want the student to get the news within the context of the action. So much happens during a driving session that he probably won't even remember the action I'm critiquing if I bring it up 15-30 minutes down the road - unless it was a near death experience.

You can also take the multi-media approach to teaching by incorporating body language and hand signals. Sometimes events unfold so quickly that words just don't do the job. If you see a car nosing out of a driveway, a simple gesture in that direction will alert your driver to the threat.

My Dad never did get the hang of that when I was a kid. He'd just scream "LOOK OUT!!!" and expect me to identify the hazard. All he did was spook me. Please be nice to your teen.

Anyway, now is the time to remind yourself of the safety hazards you notice while you're driving and communicate these to your teen as you travel. Remind him that defensive driving is all about anticipation.

I'm Not Going Too Fast!! I'm Right At The Limit!

"In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed" ~ Charles Darwin

Young Alfonso is driving 50 mph, the posted speed limit on this stretch of Rte 59. We're closing in fast on the Dodge Ram to our front.

"Time to start slowing down, kiddo." I say matter of factly.

"Why, I'm right at the speed limit!" he complains.

"Yeah, but the guy in front of us isn't and we're not playing tag. Do you think we can make this Malibu jump over him?"

"Oh!" says Alfonso as he brakes gently - just 4 seconds behind the Ram. Not a bad interval, but not as good as the 12 second gap we had once enjoyed.

I suppose most people just expect things to unfold exactly according to their plans and forget that sometimes we have to adapt to less than ideal conditions.

The guys who designed the roads posted those speed limits for ideal conditions. Ideal usually meaning dry straight aways with maximum traction, perfect visibility, and little or no traffic.

When was the last time you drove under ideal conditions? Yeah, just what I thought.

That means that you are not going to be driving the posted speed limit in traffic jams, blizzards, monsoons, or fog banks. It also means you're going to reduce your speed (that's fancy talk for slow down) before you drive into a curve.

Basically you have to remember the STV formula. If you're driving in tight areas and space is at a premium - slow down. If the road is slick and you don't have much traction - slow down. If the rain is coming down in sheets and your visibility to the front is a mere fifty feet - slow down. The posted speed limit no longer applies.

Adapt to the situation and prevail.

Either Drive Safely or Play "The Blame Game"

"When two quarrel, both are to blame" ~ Dutch Proverb

"Mr. Sweeney, that tailgater riding our rear is really getting on my nerves! Is it OK with you if I stomp on the brake real hard and then let up on it real fast? I want to scare him off!"

"No!! You know better than that! Just relax and make sure you don't have to make any sudden stops. You don't want to be involved in a rear end collision. Believe you me!"

"Hee, Hee! Just kidding! But even if he hit us, wouldn't it be his fault?"

"Yes, Caitlin, it would be, but wouldn't you just rather get home on time?"

Just about everyday my students and I are threatened by careless or aggressive drivers. After we yield right of way to them or take evasive action, the kids pepper me with questions or comments such as:

"That wasn't fair!"

"If we had crashed, wouldn't it have been their fault?"

"Who would get the ticket?"

"Why did we have to yield to that jerk? We had the right of way!"

I'll answer with a quick analysis of what the other guy should have done if we lived in a perfect world where everyone drove by the book.

Then I ask them if they would rather be alive or right.

Word combinations like "right and wrong", "guilty or not guilty", "liable or exempt" are used in nice, comfortable offices by lawyers and insurance adjusters to sort things out after the crash.

Drivers on the cold, cruel road ought to be more concerned with phrases like "safe or dangerous" and "dead or alive".

Drivers(at least good drivers) are more concerned with avoiding crashes rather than figuring out who the bad guy is.

Good drivers yield to those who are mistaken because we'd rather go home a few seconds later than waste hours on things such as:

1. bandaging wounds
2. talking to police officers*
3. filling out accident reports (don't you already have enough homework?)
4. waiting for repairs on a busted up vehicle
5. lying in bed waiting for bones to mend
6. talking to insurance people*
7. talking to lawyers and judges*

Don't play the Blame Game. It's a game that you will lose whether you're right or wrong.

Instead compensate for the other driver's mistakes. Slow down when that knucklehead races out in front of your vehicle with only inches to spare. He shouldn't have done it, but give him some room anyway. You won't regret it.

*Not that there is anything wrong with talking to these great folks, but wouldn't you rather do so under better circumstances? Like at a ball game or a picnic?

The Truth About Driver's Ed

With a provocative title like this, you may be expecting something scandalous. Sorry, I'm just going to welcome you to my Blog and tell you what I want to do with it.

Mainly I'd like to give you a little info that you can use to your benefit. I hope I'll even entertain you and make you smile.

I'm figuring that "you" are either a 15 or 16 year old who wants to see what the mean, old driving instructor is thinking or that "you" are the parent of a teen who is getting ready to go through driver's ed and you're looking for some help in surviving the ordeal. Whoever you are - you should be able to find something here you can use.

I'll provide training tips and pointers for the parents. Info that will help you keep your sanity while you try to keep your child alive.

I'll offer solutions for the problems and mistakes I see being made everyday on the road.

Kids - the training tips for parent's may help them remember what it was like to be a 15 year old who didn't know everything about driving. Many have forgotten that maneuvering the car was not always second nature.

Besides training tips I'll offer comments on some of the following:

• new traffic laws
• old traffic laws
• inventions
• gimmicks
• automobiles
• news articles
• movies
• books
• safety studies
• accident reports
• anything else related to driving

Feel free to comment.