As a father, teaching your teenager good driving habits is essential. It’s your responsibility to keep them and everyone around them safe on the road. Still, teens aren’t always good listeners, and safe driving isn’t always straightforward. What steps can you take to teach your kids good driving habits that stick?
The Value of Good Driving Habits
The benefits of good driving habits are somewhat obvious. Car accidents can be deadly, even at relatively low speeds, and you certainly don’t want your kids to be killed or seriously injured. Nor do you want your teen driver to be responsible for killing or seriously injuring someone else. In addition to bringing great pain and harm to others, this could cause them emotional turmoil for life.
According to Marks & Harrison, safe driving habits are also financially advantageous, “Car accidents can be physically damaging, emotionally devastating, and financially ruinous. If you’re found liable for a sufficiently damaging accident and you aren’t fully covered by insurance, it can follow you for years to come.”
Personal injury lawyers are everywhere and always looking for new clients. Even if a car accident is a genuine mistake on your child’s part, your entire life could be uprooted as a result.
Ensuring your teen develops good driving habits will make them better, safer, and more financially sound adults – and it could help them feel more confident.
How To Teach Your Kids Good Driving Habits
So, how exactly do you try to teach your kids good driving habits?
- Lead by example. First, you need to lead by example. If you regularly speed, weave in and out of lanes, do not use a turn signal, or blatantly disregard posted signage, your kids will probably do the same. If you keep both hands on the wheel at all times, stay alert, and drive cautiously and defensively, your kids will likely do the same. Ensure you, your co-parent, and any other adult driving with your children conform to good habits so your children can learn more effectively.
- Teach emotional regulation. Unregulated emotional reactions often cause accidents. If you’re angry at another driver, you might succumb to road rage. If you’re late to work, your panic could lead you to drive unsafely. If you’re exceptionally anxious about bad weather, it could turn you into a worse driver. Accordingly, you should teach your kids about emotional regulation and make sure they can practice it when they’re behind the wheel. Meditation, deep breathing, journaling, and similar exercises can help you regulate your emotions.
- Make clear the consequences of bad decision-making. Many kids underestimate the dangers of irresponsible driving, so do whatever it takes to make sure they understand what could happen if they speed, drink and drive, or engage in other dangerous behaviors. Some kids respond well to statistics. Others respond better to visuals that indicate what could happen after an accident. Still, others must hear personal anecdotes and stories to be convinced of the dangers.
- Tour the vehicle. Before you let your kids behind the wheel, give them a thorough tour of the vehicle. They don’t need to master automotive engineering, but they should have a reasonable understanding of how the car works and the purpose of every button, lever, and instrument in the vehicle. The more familiar they are, the better.
- Start slow. Take things one step at a time. When you start teaching your kids how to drive, take them to a relatively unpopulated area and encourage them to drive slowly. You can iteratively introduce them to more challenging situations whenever you feel like they’re ready for them.
- Identify and call out problematic behaviors (gently). Naturally, your kids will engage in some problematic behaviors while driving, both intentionally and unintentionally. Always call out these problematic behaviors and guide them to better ones. The big caveat here is that you need to do this gently; if you’re overly strict, aggressive, or judgmental, you will make the experience worse and potentially inspire your kids to rebelliously pursue similar actions in the future (when you’re not around).
- Enlist the help of a good driving school. You don’t have to do it all by yourself. In some areas, your kids may be required to go to a separate driving school. Find the best driving school you can and ensure they get the best possible driver education training.
- Offer unconditional pickup. Finally, consider offering your kids unconditional pickup: If they drink alcohol, do drugs, or end up in a bad situation during inclement weather, volunteer to pick them up unconditionally, no questions asked. You don’t want your kids engaging in these behaviors, but it would be even worse if they tried driving a vehicle under these conditions.
There are straightforward ways you can protect your kids, such as buying them bigger, safer vehicles or tracking their movements with apps and telematics. However, it’s even more important to teach them good habits that will last a lifetime.
With these strategies, you can make your lessons more effective and help them stick.
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This post is made possible by Larry Alton.
Photo by Brock Wegner on Unsplash
