Teen Driving Guides
Parent Guide Behind-the-wheel lessons
Teach Your Teen to Drive
Time Log
Track Behind-the-Wheel Hours Do lessons multiple times before moving to the next, and record full and partial hours here. Most driver's license tests require 50 total hours of behind-the-wheel practice. Lesson
Get Ready to Drive
Page
22
Hrs:
Drive 1: Go for Slow Circle Trips
26
Hrs:
Drive 2: Drive Around the Neighborhood
30
Hrs:
Drive 3: Backward and Turn Around
33
Hrs:
Drive 4: Easy Day and Night Drives
36
Hrs:
Drive 5: Parking Practice
39
Hrs:
Drive 6: Drives Around Town
42
Hrs:
Drive 7: Highway Drives
49
Hrs:
Drive 8: Nighttime and Bad Weather
55
Hrs:
Drive 9: Driving-Test Practice Hrs:
60
Teen Driving Guides
Parent Guide The companion volume to the Teen Guide
Damerst™ Publishing LLC, Longwood, Florida. teendrivingguides.com
Teen Driving Guides: Parent Guide and Teen Guide
Published by Damerst™ Publishing LLC 210 Garden Lane, Longwood, FL 32750. Copyright 2011 by Damerst™ Publishing LLC All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. Edited by Douglas H. Damerst First Edition 2011 Teen Driving Guides is a two-volume set consisting of the Teen Guide and the Parent Guide. Volumes are not sold separately. v. 1 Parent Guide. v. 2 Teen Guide. Library of Congress Control Number: 2011940503 ISBN 978-0-615-54526-4
Contact the publisher for bulk purchases or corporate premium sales. teendrivingguides.com
Parent Guide
Parent Tips How to Use the Guides
2
Teen Guide Tips
9
How to Coach a Teen Driver
18
Driving Lessons Get Ready to Drive
22
Drive 1: Slow Circle Trips
26
Drive 2: Around the Neighborhood
30
Drive 3: Backward and Turn Around
33
Drive 4: Easy Day and Night Drives
36
Drive 5: Parking Practice
39
Drive 6: Drives Around Town
42
Drive 7: Highway Drives
49
Drive 8: Nighttime and Bad Weather
55
Drive 9: Driving-Test Practice
60
Parent Guide
How to Use the Guides
You Can Be a Life Saver Here's how to put Teen Driving Guides to work to help your child drive safely. Academic experience shows that children learn best from a patient and prepared parent. Public, private and home schooling all succeed when parents help students—a parent's love and desire to see the child learn is rarely matched elsewhere. Learning to drive is no exception. And because driving is the number-one cause of death and injury for teens, the student benefits from parent involvement here more than in any other educational subject. In fact, teaching teens to drive cannot be safely left to driver education courses alone. Research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (2010) shows that teen fatalities do not reduce for graduates of driver education courses. However, parents who help teens learn do improve teen driving safety. If your teen is or will be enrolled in a driver education course, these two guides are designed to reinforce the course's lessons. However, they do not qualify for driver education credits in any state. The Teen Driving Guides' purpose is to improve your teen's chance for being a safe driver despite the lack of experience and the teenage tendency to not see risks. If your teen can get at least 50 hours of guided practice behind the steering wheel, experts say it's equivalent to a couple years of driving experience. That's what the Parent Guide provides. The Teen Guide goes even further by adding hours of on-the-road lessons from the passenger's seat—lessons typically left to classroom lectures. While doing lessons in the passenger seat is a new approach to teaching drivers, it's a tested method for other forms of transporation, such as airplanes.
Parent Guide
How to Use the Guides
Complete the Teen Guide First The Teen Driving Guides program begins with Teen Guide lessons in the passenger seat for a good reason: When your teen starts learning how to handle a car, he or she should already know the road rules and know how to measure safe gaps in traffic, use eyes to look for danger and follow routes to a destination. The Teen Guide teaches these skills. Make learning a requirement. Insist that your teen learns each point in each lesson in the Teen Guide to your satisfaction before getting a learner's permit. Your teen can even start Teen Guide lessons at age 13 or 14. Put your teen in the passenger seat. By sitting in the front passenger seat, your teen learns about driving on the very streets he or she will drive, not on simulated streets on a computer. This know-how and familiarity raises confidence and makes the move to the driver's seat less stressful and much safer. Talk to make learning fun and effective. The Teen Guide tells your teen to read lessons out loud and tell you what he or she is observing. You also should talk to help your teen observe and learn, but make the talk fun to keep tension low and learning high. Don't allow any distractions or interruptions, such as music, texting, phone calls, eating, etc. When you do switch seats and your teen drives, this will help both of you be calmer and communicate better. Be open to learning too. The Teen Guide teaches driving techniques that you may not know or you may think are unnecessary or incorrect. For your child's safety, be open to learning too. The Parent Guide tells you about each lesson in the Teen Guide, but before going on a drive, read the lessons in the Teen Guide so you know what will be taught. As your teen reads the Teen Guide Parent Guide
How to Use the Guides to you during the lessons, treat new information as a fun discovery for both of you. You can be a role model by changing old habits and using some new techniques as you drive. Just be sure to smile :) when your teen corrects your driving. Focus on driving. Your teen is asked to read lessons out loud and point out things during Teen Guide lessons, but shouldn't also try to show you the guide. Listen respectfully and encourage your teen, but when driving needs your full attention ask your teen to wait a minute. If you can, use these pauses as "teaching moments" to explain what has your attention as a driver. Learn the lessons in order. Lessons build on prior lessons, so do them in order and be sure your teen has learned a lesson before moving to the next one. To do this, challenge your teen with questions during and after lessons. Each drive in the Teen Guide is broken down into numbered lessons, and within each lesson there are tasks marked with a check. Help your teen do and understand each task.
6
Most important lessons. A teen's judgment about risk is not fully developed and won't be for many years. Experts cite this fact—along with a teen's lack of experience—to explain the high traffic death and injury rate for teen drivers. The Teen Guide teaches tools to help young drivers make better judgments, and the following lessons are the most important in this regard. Counting seconds. Drives 1 and 2 teach a proven method—counting seconds—for judging safe gaps for turns, following distance and looking ahead to make driving decisions. During all other lessons, especially behind-the-wheel lessons, make sure your teen continues to count seconds out loud and to himor herself. Later, when your teen is solo driving, you can remind him or her, "Count your seconds."
Parent Guide
How to Use the Guides Count your seconds too. You may not have been taught to count seconds when you learned to drive, but it’s an essential skill that your teen needs to master to make critical decisions. So count seconds as you drive—sometimes out loud and sometimes to youself. You’ll show your teen that it's an important aid for seeing and steering away from trouble and for having safe gaps when following and turning. White markings and white signs. Drives 4 and 5 teach rules of the road (white markings and signs). The rules are created for one purpose: to keep drivers safe. When teens learn to see the white marks and signs, know what they mean and follow them, they learn critical boundaries that help keep them safe.
For example, crossing a solid white line might seem harmless to you, but for a teen with poor risk judgment, the safer choice is to follow the rules and not cross solid white lines. When you drive, obey the white marks and white signs (including speed limit) to model safe driving so your teen follow the rules of the road too.
Use the Kit’s Extras Videos. In both guides, videos to help demonstrate important points. Each video has its own unique number and can be watched online, at teendrivingguides.com/ video12, for example. Use a Webconnected cell phone to scan 2-D barcodes and watch videos. To do this, download a free 2-D barcode scanning Parent Guide
How to Use the Guides app, such as from NeoReader.com, and test it on this barcode: you'll get a confirming text message. Lesson logs. Do each lesson in both guides several times. Logs in the guides help track progress. The log in the Parent Guide also records the time your teen spends behind the wheel. Most states require 50 hours of driving with a learner's permit before allowing a driver's license driving test, so use the log to document hours. Teen Driving Agreement. When parents and teen make a written agreement about driving rules, it reinforces safe driving. The agreement says that breaking rules loses priviledges and following rules earns more priviledges. Sit with your teen and fill out the agreement before starting the Teen Guide and then post it on the refrigerator. Have your teen cut out the "Teen Driver Rules" wallet card and carry it with him or her for all lessons, including Teen Guide lessons. To make sure your rules meet your state's minimum restrictions, check the state driver's manual or go to teendrivingguides.com/licenses. Rearview mirror. Both teen and parent use the kit's rearview mirror while sitting in the passenger seat, so place it near the driver’s mirror and leave it for all the lessons. Be sure to set the rearview mirror high on the windshield so it's out of the way when you're looking ahead.
When you sit in the passenger seat, you'll be able to watch traffic behind the car in the mirror. You can adjust it occasionally to watch your teen's eyes to see whether he or she checks side mirrors, scans the road from side to side and looks in the rearview mirror.
Parent Guide
PRE-DRIVE
Get Ready to Drive pedal and push the accelerator lightly with your toes. If the wheel telescopes in and out, use that adjustment too. When you sit at the right distance from the steering wheel, there is ample room for you to turn the wheel. You'll check this in step 4.
2. Adjust seat height up or down (and steering wheel up or down, in or out on some cars) so your shoulders are about level with the top of the steering wheel. You should be able to fully see instruments through openings in the steering wheel, especially the speedometer. When you set seat height correctly, you'll see better out windows and in mirrors (adjust mirrors after adjusting the seat). 3. Hold the steering wheel at left and right positions with your fingers and thumbs, but not your palms. Adjust the seat back's tilt so your arms hang bent without crowding against your body. Imagine the wheel is a clock and put your thumbs at 9 o'clock and 3 o’clock. Keep thumbs off the air bag area so hands and arms don't hit your face if the air bag inflates during a crash.
12 9
3 6
4. Cross arms and hold the wheel by switching right hand with left hand. Parent Guide
23
PRE-DRIVE
Get Ready to Drive If either hand doesn't reach and hold the wheel, move the seat or tilt the seat back to get you a little closer (or on some cars telescope the wheel to get it closer). If your arms hit your body when they cross, move the seat or tilt the seat back (or telescope the wheel) away to get a little more room. Put both hands at the 12 o’clock position, and if your back comes off the seat back, tilt the seat back forward a little. Sit no closer than 10 inches from the steering wheel for maximum air bag protection.
5. Go back to step 2 and recheck that your shoulders and the top of the wheel are about the same height. Fine-tune adjustments in steps 2, 3 and 4 until reasonably correct. If one of positions cannot be achieved, then this car is not a good fit for you. You can change cars or use helper devices, such as extension blocks on the brake and gas pedals or cushions on the seat or seat back. 6. Buckle up after making all seat adjustments and make sure all passengers buckle up too. Coach note: Learning to belt-check others is a life-saving task that drivers must do. Test your teen by not buckling your belt. If your teen doesn't ask you to buckle, point it out and then buckle up.
Can you see well in the mirrors? Coaching notes:ďż˝ To adjust mirrors, the driver must first adjust the seat and sit correctly, buckle up and put one hand on the wheel. When mirrors are set correctly, the driver minimizes blinds spots, allows glancing without head turns and reduces blinding headlights at night.
24
Parent Guide
Get Ready to Drive
PRE-DRIVE
Lessons Put a hand on the wheel (thumb at either the 9 o'clock or 3 o’clock position), face straight ahead and look in the mirrors without turning your head. Make mirror adjustments. 1. Adjust the center rearview mirror, up or down and left or right, so the rear window is centered. At night, use the night setting to prevent blinding light from headlights behind you (some mirrors dim at night automatically). 2. Tilt the outside mirrors up or down until the road's horizon is in the middle.
3. Turn the outside mirrors in or out until you see only a sliver of the side of your car. Next, while facing straight ahead, tilt your head just a couple inches toward one side mirror. More of the car's side should come into view, so readjust the mirror so only a sliver of the car’s side is visible. When you straighten your head, the side of the car should just be out of view in the mirror. Repeat for the other side mirror. This reduces your blind spots, and it reduces blinding glare at night from headlights behind you.
Parent Guide
25
DRIVE 1 1/2 to 1 Hour
Slow Circle Trips
Go for Slow Circle Trips Coaching notes: During this first daytime drive, the focus is on relaxing, steering to stay on the right side of a parking lot aisle or a neighborhood street, and stopping. Because you’ll be driving slow, warn other drivers by turning on the emergency flashers during this lesson��������� (except if your state prohibits the use of flashers when moving)�. To help your teen relax, tell him or her to “Hold the steering wheel gently with just fingers and thumbs, not palms,” and to “Keep your forearms relaxed.” Since the lesson focuses on handling the car, you should watch for and point out road markings and signs the driver must obey. When your teen controls idle speed well with the brake, then ask him or her to “Pivot your foot from the brake to the gas pedal and push the pedal lightly with just your toes” to increase the speed a little. For each task, do practice trials and then ask your teen to do it unaided. If mistakes are made, repeat until the task is done correctly, unaided, before going to the next task. Where: This daytime drive makes round-trips in a large, level, nearly empty parking lot or on level, empty neighborhood streets. Your teen drives forward at slow, idle speeds around the lot or around the block, without backing up.
Lessons Review the last lesson before proceeding. Do the 1-minute walk-around, sit correctly and adjust the mirrors. On this drive you’ll learn how to turn the steering wheel correctly, and then you’ll drive forward, turn and stop.
26
Parent Guide
DRIVE 1
Slow Circle Trips
Learn hand-to-hand steering. Practice while parked. 1. With the engine turned on, tires pointed straight and the car parked, place both hands (holding with fingers, not palms) on the wheel at the normal 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions.
2. Release your left hand's grip and turn the wheel left with your right hand (up to the 1 o'clock position). 3. Continue the turn with your left hand by grabbing the wheel at the 11 o'clock position and pulling down. Let go with your right hand. 4. Repeat by grabbing with your right hand at the 3 o'clock position and turning the wheel to the 1 o'clock position again. Grab the 11 o'clock position with your left and pull down to keep the wheel turning. 5. Turn the wheel to the right and back to where you started by alternating left and right hands.
Watch online video Scan this 2-D barcode or visit teendrivingguides.com/video8 Repeat this practice until you can turn the wheel smoothly and without coaching. Hand-to-hand (also called push-pull) steering keeps your teen's arms from crossing over the steering wheel's airbag. If the airbag deploys during a turn, the forearm can seriously damage the head. A car's steering is engineered to track straight ahead, so after turning a corner, the steering wheel tends to return Parent Guide
27
DRIVE DRIVE 2 1 1/2 1/2 to to 11 Hour Hour
Around the Neighborhood Title
Drive Around the Neighborhood Coaching notes: As in Drive 1, there’s no backing up during this lesson but there are more turns and speed increases to 15 to 20 mph, so there will be more use of the steering wheel, accelerator and brake. Turn on the emergency flashers ���������������������������������������� (except if your state prohibits the use of flashers when moving). R������������������������������� emind your teen to relax, just as you did in Drive 1. This daytime lesson requires your teen to use the mirrors, watch the 4-second zone ahead and read road signs and markings out loud. While your teen concentrates on the 4-second zone during the lesson, you should look farther ahead during the lesson. If there are stop signs, the lesson includes stopping and counting seconds to see safe gaps in traffic. The lesson requires your teen to point out and talk about signs and dangers. You should point out things he or she misses. For each task, coach some practice trials and then ask your teen to do it unaided. If mistakes are made, repeat until the task is done correctly, unaided, before going to the next task. Where: As in Drive 1, this daytime drive is at low speeds on quiet residential streets without backing up. Choose routes ahead of time that have left and right turns. To gain experience, your teen should have a couple encounters with other cars that are going the opposite direction and that are following behind.
Lessons Review the last lesson before proceeding. Do the 1-minute walk-around, sit correctly and adjust the mirrors. As you drive, do and talk about these things. ✔ Read signs out loud and point out road markings 30
Parent Guide
DRIVE DRIVE 6 1 11/2Hour to 1 Hour
Drives Around Town Title
Daytime Drives Around Town Coaching notes: Beginning with Drive 6, your teen drives in more complex and moderate-speed environments. Now lessons are organized by the type of road or area, like traffic-light intersections, multilane roads, school zones, etc. This lesson brings all driving elements into play—reading signs and road markings, watching for trouble ahead, driving in traffic and following routes to destinations. Remember, cars following behind tend to pressure and worry your teen, especially when your teen is making a turn. Calm your teen by saying, “Don’t let cars behind pressure you. Focus on what’s ahead of you and what you’re doing.” As always, remind your driver to “Count seconds” and to “Relax.” For each task, coach some practice trials and then ask your teen to do it unaided. If mistakes are made, repeat until the task is done correctly, unaided, before going to the next task. Where: Start with close and familiar destinations, like a school or grocery store, when traffic is lightest. After a couple such drives, go on longer drives in a mix of light and moderate traffic. Include multilane roads, intersections with traffic lights, one-way streets, school zones, construction zones and railroad crossings. However, avoid speed limits above 45 mph, heavy traffic and busy commercial districts. High-speed routes are used in the next lesson. Because they're familiar to both of you, ��������������� u�������������� se the drives your teen planned for Teen Guide Drive 8, if possible.
Lessons Review Lesson 4 before proceeding. Do the 1-minute walk-around, sit correctly and adjust the mirrors.
42
Parent Guide
DRIVE 1 6 1/2 to 1 Hour
Drives Around Town Title
Drive on single-lane through-streets.
✔ Turn onto the through-street by counting seconds to find a safe gap in traffic. Seven-second gap for a right turn and 9-second gap for a left turn (left turns take more time). ✔ Turn from the through-street to a side street. When turning left, look for a 4- to 5-second gap in traffic. When turing right, don't worry about cars behind you. ✔ Obey all road signs and markings, including stop lines, arrows and lane lines.
✔ Count the 2-second following distance out loud. ✔ Look for and heed all signs, especially white regulatory and yellow warning signs. ✔ Scan the 4-second danger zone from side to side. ✔ Watch the 8-second steering zone ahead and adjust speed to other cars' speeds and movements. ✔ Signal turns at least 4 seconds before the turn. Parent Guide
43
DRIVE DRIVE 9 1 1/2 1/2 Hour to 1 Hour
Driving-Test Practice Title
Driving-Test Practice Coaching notes: This practice prepares your teen for the driver’s license road test by having you act as the examiner (video 17). Like the examiner, you won’t aid or coach the driver, nor will you try to trick the driver or ask him or her to do something illegal. Instead, you’ll simply give directions, observe and give feedback afterward. Like the driver’s license bureau, you’ll give the test even if weather conditions are poor (unless the conditions are dangerous even for licensed drivers).
Watch online video Scan this 2-D barcode or visit teendrivingguides.com/video17 Where: Do the practice test near the driver's license bureau so the roads and challenges will closely match the actual test. Use a route with stop signs, traffic lights and any special zones (school, railroad or work zones) that may be in the area. The test starts and ends in a parking lot.
Practice Lesson 1. Check vehicle. Ask your teen to get in the driver's seat and then do these typical road-test tasks. ® Set and then release the parking brake. ® Show that you can reach the brake and gas pedals. ® Do hand signals for turning left and right and for stopping. ® Start the car. 60
Parent Guide
Teen Driving Guides Help parents do what they do best... Lovingly teach life-saving lessons to their children. Learning begins with the Teen Guide. Sitting in the passenger seat, your teen uses the Teen Guide to master essential knowledge and practice skills every safe driver needs before getting behind the wheel. Lessons are learned on the same roads and in the same traffic that your teen will be driving, which helps him or her recall knowledge and skills better when driving. The Parent Guide gives step-by-step, behind-thewheel lessons. Driving lessons start simple and slowly progress to more complex driving. You can just read the driving instructions out loud, if you like, and lessons end with a checklist to help you decide if your teen is ready for the next lesson. The guide’s lesson log helps you keep track of practice hours that may be required by the state prior to a driving test.
Edited by Douglas H. Damerst, former editor in chief of AAA National and director of AAA Colorado Driving School. The guides are written for easy understanding and feature 210 color illustrations and photographs. Guides are edited for use only in the United States.
Visit TeenDrivingGuides.com Teen Driving Guides, v.1 Parent Guide v.2 Teen Guide: $29.95 USD
Damerst™ Publishing LLC