Scary, right? One minute your kid is taking their first steps and the next they’re getting their L plates and asking you to drive with them as their supervisor and teacher.
Your first time teaching a learner to drive might feel almost as nerve-racking to you as it does to them! Especially if you are located in a busy city.
That’s why we’ve prepared a guide tailored specifically to those who are raising their kids in a city for a smooth experience teaching your teenager how to drive a car.
Find a driving instructor
This is probably the most obvious thing you can do to take the pressure off yourself as a teacher.
Not all parents decide to get lessons for their kids at the very beginning of their learning journey, but it might be a good idea to hire a professional driving instructor for their first few lessons if you are feeling lost on how to teach them.
Ideally, you could ask to sit in on these lessons so that you get some tips for instructing your teenager, so when the time comes for you to supervise you have some tricks up your sleeve.
It is important to find an instructor that suits you and your kids’ preferences so that everyone is comfortable and relaxed.
If, for example, for religious or personal reasons you need a female instructor, you can find one on sites like EZlicence that are designed to match you with the right instructor.
Revise the road rules
Look, we don’t want to make any assumptions, but the chances are that it might have been a while since you had to pass a driver theory or practical test.
Before you get into the car with your teen, make sure you read up on the Australian road rules in your state to brush up on what you were taught all those years ago and to make yourself aware of any additions or changes.
Choose your car wisely
We know that your choices for vehicles are limited to what you have or your budget if you plan on buying a new car.
If you do have more than one vehicle or are planning on getting a new one for your kid, here are some things to keep in mind:
Smaller is better – on the tight streets of a city, you don’t want your teen learning in a monster truck.
Automatic or manual? – If you have to choose between them, I’d go with automatic. This will make you and your learner’s life 10x easier.
Get it serviced – before hitting the road, make sure the car is in good condition and there won’t be any mechanical problems throughout your lessons.
Quiet, wide streets
Start on quiet roads where your teen has plenty of room and time to take it slow and get the hang of simple manoeuvres.
You can find wider, quieter streets within a city, you just have to head to the outskirts.
The last thing you want is someone beeping and swearing at a learner who is getting onto the road for the first time.
Slowly introduce them to traffic
As helpful as it is to stay away from busy city roads at first, you can’t avoid them forever, and when your teenager is on their P plates, they will absolutely need strong city driving skills as inner-city residents.
Slowly but surely, venture onto busier roads. Make sure you prepare them to watch out for pedestrians, cyclists and road ragers.
Being resilient to aggressive drivers is also a key city driving skill, so it’s best to start coaching them on relaxation techniques for these situations early on.
Stay calm
As their instructor, the worst thing you can do for morale is lose your cool.
Your initial reaction to stressful moments may be to scream at the top of your lungs, and this is a fair reaction to have in potentially dangerous situations where fast action is needed.
Saving your lungs for life-or-death situations ensures that your teenager feels more relaxed, respected and willing to follow your instructions.
Create lasting habits
You can’t control the way that your child drives once they have their licence and are free to roam around unsupervised.
What you can control is how you build habits when they are learning with you.
Every single time you get in the car for a lesson, have them complete a mental checklist. Phone is off and in the glovebox. Seatbelt on. Check mirrors.
Creating a routine and sticking to it is far more effective than just telling your learner to never use their phone and always wear their seatbelt.
And that’s all, folks! Thanks for reading, and hopefully our guide helps you to successfully get a safe and conscientious driver on the road (while keeping your own sanity).
