Should Parents Hire a Driving Instructor for their Teen?
If you the parent have the patience and expertise to teach all the skills required to drive, and you have a teaching outline with step by step progression then by all means. Patience means no yelling and no stressful behavior in the car while teaching.
What is the first thing you are going say about driving and the first skill you are going to teach?
If you do not have an outline then don't even start. Almost every teen I teach has the same story, my mom or my dad yell at me.
And every parent says the same thing to me. My son or my daughter drive different with you then they do with me. Of course they drive different with a driving instructor. A driving instructor does not yell at their student.
I try to make driving fun. If your teen comes to dread getting in the car with you they will not progress and may never drive.
Recently I had a young lady 16 years old explain that her father was a Las Vegas police officer and would be her driving instructor. Several weeks later the mother called to hire me for subsequent driving lessons. I really didn't need to ask what had occurred. Nine times out of ten its the same story. Just because someone has the title of police officer does not mean they can teach someone else how to drive. The teen has even developed several bad habits while learning from her father the police officer. Another student I had last year same thing, his father was a truck driver with many years behind the wheel. The father forced his son to drive down the freeway the very first time out. He didn't attempt to drive again for 5 years after that traumatic event. He was 26 years old by the time he contacted us to start driving again.
Some parents think they can throw their kid into the lake and they will learn to swim out of sheer survival. And they apply that to driving also. How crazy is that.
If you are determined to teach your child to drive at least get the Nevada DMV parent teaching guide. You can download it off our website under the docs tab.
A few other tips
Take time to map out a route, rather than randomly driving. Consider quiet Las vegas side streets, avoiding busy Las Vegas thoroughfares. Inform your teen of the route as well.
Have a teaching agenda of what road skills to work on before each drive leson begins. For example, you could practice left turns or maintaining proper distance.
Adjust the passenger side mirror so as to use it as your rear view mirror.
Remind yourself to stay calm and avoid raising your voice. You want the driving session to be a positive experience for your child.
And how about some positive feedback
If you find its not going well and you don't have the patience. You might consider our 3 week defensive driving course for teens. Its designed to produce a safe competent driver with all the skills necessary to pass the DMV road test.
