Safe Teen Driving in CA
So your teenager is finally at the age where they can start driving and it’s probably safe to assume you’re feeling more than a little nervous about them hitting the open road. We can’t say we blame you either. Driving is a whole new experience and teaching your teenager to drive can be nerve-racking. So you can stay as calm as possible we’ve compiled a list of safe driving tips and what to cover at each stage of the learning process.
On your first lesson with your teen, you should go over all of the different features of the vehicle. Make sure they know where the switch for the windshield wiper is, where the blinker is, foglights, and headlights. You don’t want them to be distracted trying to find something while driving. Once you’ve gone over that you should have your teen focus on controlling the vehicle. Take a few laps around a parking lot and practicing turning right and left and then have them practice baking out of a parking spot.
Once they’ve mastered the parking lot it’s time to head out onto the open road. When you hit the road you want to have them focus on what to do at intersections. Make sure they come to a complete stop at all stop signs and red lights. When they are moving again make sure they are leaving enough distance between them and the vehicle in front of them so they aren’t tailgating. Then have them practice safe lane changes by making sure they check their mirrors and blind spots for any vehicles that may be there. Always make sure they put on their blinker too when they go to change lanes so everyone around them knows where they are going.
Now that they’ve seemed to have lane changes under control it’s time to tackle parking. Pulling into a parking spot is pretty straight forward while parallel parking, on the other hand, can be a whole other story, so set up a few cones in a parking lot and go over the proper technic to parallel parking.
When you feel your teen has really mastered controlling the vehicle you should take them out onto the highway. You’re going to want to teach them how to properly merge onto the highway so they don’t cause an incident and just blindly enter the freeway. They are going to want to make sure there are no vehicles in their way when they go to merge and that they are going the same speed as the other vehicles on the highway. Once they are on the highway have them practice changing lanes at the increased speed.
Lastly, take them out at night and during inclement weather like a rainstorm so they experience different driving conditions. It’s best to expose them to as many driving conditions as possible while you’re in the vehicle with them and can coach them then when they are on their own. When you feel your teen is finally ready come on down DCH Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Temecula to find them a safe and reliable vehicle you’ll feel comfortable having them drive every day. You can even view our entire selection of vehicles right here on our website.
