This is a collaborative post.
Teaching your child to drive is a big thing to think about as they get older. But teaching them to drive takes a huge amount of stress off you and it keeps them safe when they want to go out at night.
Although it is better for your child to have professional lessons with a driving instructor, you will need to take them out to practice too. The more practice they have with you, the less paid lessons they are likely to need. So it will help your pocket in the long run.
Your child can learn to drive from 17 years old and it means you won’t need to be the taxi of mum or dad anymore. Think how much extra time that will give you every week. Even though you are going to teach your child to drive, there are things you need to think about to keep you both safe.
Finding Somewhere To Learn To Drive
If you are lucky enough to live somewhere with lots of land, then you can learn there. But if not, you can try a supermarket car park after hours or if you know somewhere with space to practice driving, then use it.
As long as you are not trespassing, these are perfect places to learn. Eventually, as your child progresses and gets more confident, they can use the roads.
One place you cannot let your child learn to drive is on the motorway. For them to drive on the motorway, they need to be with a qualified instructor in a dual control car.
Take Out Appropriate Insurance
You are letting your child control your car, this is probably the most expensive thing that you own. Even the most sensible of teenagers can have an accident in it.
Before you let your child behind the wheel, you need to make sure that you have the right insurance. Teens need to ask themselves ”is it cheaper to be on your parent’s car insurance?” Or is it cheaper to be on my own car insurance?”.
Parents need to check if your own car insurance covers you. If it doesn’t, find one that will. If you are unsure whether your insurance covers a learner, you can always call them and ask. They might even be able to add it to your insurance premium.
Plan The Lessons Before You Go Out In The Car
Before you go out in the car, you need to have an understanding of what your child knows. This will depend on how many lessons they have had with a qualified driving instructor and how much you taught them.
Ask them about road signs and talk about the car. The car you have will be different to the driving instructors, so they need to learn where everything is and how to use it.
Think about the weather, if it is raining it probably isn’t best to take them driving in the rain on their first time out with you. Ideally, the first time you take them for a lesson should be whilst it is light and dry. It will be better to take them when the roads are less busy, so avoid going out in a rush hour.
Be Patient When You Teach Your Child To Drive
When you first teach your child to drive, they are going to be nervous, worried, scared and excited. Teaching them to drive can be stressful for you because they might stall the car 20 times at a crossroads. Or accidentally drive through a red light.
It is going to be a white-knuckle ride to start with, but you need to keep calm. Remember what it was like when you learned to drive, think about the mistakes that you made.
Your child will eventually get the hang of it, you just need to be really patient in the meantime. In every lesson that you give them, think about how independent they will be when they have passed their driving test.
Teach Your Child The Mechanics
This is something that should really be included in driving lessons. So many people pass their driving test, without knowing how to change a tyre. There is so much that can go wrong with a car, that is easy to be fixed by them. This could be changing wiper blades or filling the radiator with water. Sadly so many new drivers rely on others to help them with simple jobs.
Have Fun And Make Memories
You have taught your child so many things over the years, now you are teaching them to drive. This is such a valuable thing to teach them. It might be stressful to start with but laugh off the mistakes. Give your child some memories to look back on in years to come. Teaching them to drive will even help you bond together.
Good luck teaching your child to drive and have fun together
