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12 Tips To Teaching Teens To Drive

1- Make sure you have a good running car. A teen might practice in a car with their driver’s training teacher and another car, or two, with their parents or other adults helping them. Making sure a car is running properly and is safe is a priority.

2- Call your insurance company. Not all policies include drivers with a permit. Make sure your teen is covered.

3- Encourage good grades. Most insurance companies offer a discount if a report card shows a ‘B average’ GPA, or better.

4- Have your teen pass a driving school. This can be in a classroom or online. Each course is appropriately 30 hours, so it is good to start it 6 months before a kid can start driving.

5- Remove all distractions. For the first few hours of lessons it is probably best if there isn’t any other passengers. Turn off the radio. Make sure your teen is rested and isn’t hungry.

6- Parents should know all the laws of a teen driver too. Don’t rely on your teen to remember or tell you.

7- Don’t forget to teach kids to drive at night and in bad weather. This shouldn’t be a first lesson, but should be included before they are driving on their own.

8- Never underestimate the importance of knowing how to drive a stick shift.

9- Don’t fight with your teen, bring up issues like school attendance, drama with other kids, chaos, etc. while they are driving.

10- Make sure your teen gets enough driving. Most states require 6 hours with an instructor and 50 hours with their parents or other adults, over the age of 25 years old. 10 of those hours need to be at night. I enrolled my kids in Practice and Pass Driving School. It is a fantastic local school. Therese, the owner, has over 10 years of experience. Making sure you find a reliable instructor is a must!

11- Get your teen a roadside assistance card. Not only is it good to have one if they are driving on their own but it is good to have one if they are with friends, in their friend’s cars. Cars break down. Run out of gas.

12- Set a zero tolerance for drugs, alcohol and texting while driving.