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Member since 9/26/04
Posts: 478
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Posted on: 2/7/06 2:04 PM ET
Those of you in Western PA - watch out. My 16 yo son passed his driving test today! This is a rite of passage I could well do without. I've just about got over the stress of DD driving, and now I have to start all over again. From my limited experience it seems that girls suffer from undue cautiusness, while boys are overly confident. Either can be disastrous. Any pearls of wisdom to impart, either for me or him? DH has given him the "talk", which starts out "when you see your Mother driving you have to remember that she has several decades experience.." and ends "concentrate, concentrate, concentrate". I could do without the emphasis on the decades part, but I get where he's coming from. I've tried to drum into him the idea that you have to assume that everyone else could potentially do something stupid. Also, you have to call your Mother at the end of a jouney, even if it's just up the street!

Jennifer
  
Member since 10/20/05
Posts: 1185
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Posted on: 2/7/06 2:44 PM ET
Heh about the 'decades' bit. I've just recently realized that I've been driving for a decade myself, and it made me feel old (I know, I know, I'm not...). But people 10 years younger than myself should NOT be allowed to drive! No offense to your son, of course.

It sounds like your son has parents who want to teach him and care about him, I'm sure he'll do fine. Oh, and good luck on the calling you after every trip thing. My mom always tells me to call upon arriving home after visiting them (12 hour drive), but deep down she knows she's lucky if I remember to email
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... but what do I know?
  
Member since 3/3/03
Posts: 1524
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Posted on: 2/7/06 2:57 PM ET
In reply to jenniferpa
Oh, yeah! I remember this milestone very well!

We were fairly strict with the driving while DS and DD were in high school. The following were our rules, and ones we harped on constantly: 1) ALWAYS wear your seat belt; 2) Put in the CD/tune the radio BEFORE you set off; 3) no more than ONE other kid in the front and only one in the back (this might have changed now with new driver regulations; and 4) permission is necessary before going into "town". We live in a small bedroom community, so trips into the bigger city were monitored and discussed first.

DS, being the first child, actually never drove any further than the bigger town until he went away to college 3 hours away. I was a tad (ha) nervous the entire 3 hours until he called that he was there safe and sound.

Good luck! Keep talking, keep harping, keep tabs. We were happy to have reached the milestone because it certainly saved a lot of wear and tear on us getting them back and forth to school activities and sports practices, but it took a few years before we were finally able to not worry about it so much!




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Bev
  
Member since 9/26/04
Posts: 478
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Posted on: 2/7/06 3:07 PM ET
My rules are as follows - Only one kid in the car (and it has to be a child I know), no cd/radio, phone must be off, seatbelt on. I also have to know where he's going for all trips, although I'm less concerned about "town" as he's been doing that drive since he started.

I am relieved that I won't have to do so much driving, but on the other hand, the nervous twitch I've developed will probably get worse.

Jennifer
  
Member since 6/20/03
Posts: 554
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Posted on: 2/7/06 8:08 PM ET
The riskiest factors are more than one teen/child passenger in the car with a teen driver, and driving at night after 9 p.m. If your state GDL law doesn't have nighttime restriction, think about having your own nighttime limit. 10 p.m. at latest, honestly, for new drivers. 9 p.m. is better, but for practical reasons we know teens often have jobs at the mall, for instance, and may need to drive after 9 p.m. if they work the closing shift.

Besides the above, the obvious are seatbelts all the time for all passengers, and no alcohol.

Cell phones are shown to increase crash risk, especially for teens. It doesn't matter whether it's handheld or hands-free -- the problem is your attention is divided while listening and talking -- in a different way than when you're talking with a passenger.

You might want to work with your teen to practice ways he can "save face" when he faces inevitable peer pressure to not wear seat belt, have more than one passenger in the car, etc. Influence of friends is exactly why its recommended there be no more than one young passenger in the car for new drivers.

Also always remember you still have more influence than you think. I work on traffic safety research -- studies show again and again that although friends and peers are important to teens, they say that the biggest influence on their driving behavior really is their parents. So they might be rolling their eyes at you sometimes, but don't believe it, it's just what they do ... :)

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Deb

Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.

http://visualobsessions.blogspot.com/
  
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