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  2 0 Go to the high school parking lot on the weekend, when it is deserted, and have them practice acceleration, braking, turning, parking, and just getting the general feel of a car, about the size they are likely to drive and operate. You can pick up orange cones (either above board at Odd Lotts/Bigg Lotts or through other underhanded means) and set up a few narrow passes to either drive through or to parallel park inside after they become more confident. Don't overload them with too much experience the first time. But don't let them speed nor operate around any other vehicles. You're not an official drivers training officer and so, you legally have no defense if there's an accident. Also, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BUYING 3-5 YELLOW MAGNETIC SIGNS "NEW DRIVER" FOR YOUR CAR. See my other comment elsewhere in this thread. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! O my captain answered in Cars & Motorcycles 3 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 A large parking lot with no obstructions will have limited value, except in very initial aspects of learning to set the vehicle up for driving (seat and mirrors, etc.) and beginning exploration in forward and backward motion. The real learning comes in learning to stay within a lane and having a sense of the vehicle in space (laterally in the lane and speed) as you train your gaze at distance while moving. I tend to believe that parents do not make the best instructors of their own children in driving skills. Don't take that the wrong way. It's just that there is a very complex relationship between parent and child and it can really get in the way of imparting knowledge in an unemotional manner when learning this important a skill. If driver's education is not available through the school system I would highly recommend finding a driving school that has good reputation. After skills has been acquired you probably could accompany in a back seat drive-along so you can see your child's ability. Being aware of their developed skills would then make you a better adult chaperone when they take to real roads with you in the front seat beside them. Russ Campbell, NWEBS answered in Cars & Motorcycles 3 months ago | Report 6 comments by David, O my captain, and O my captain… 1 0 Russ, Thanks and completely agree re: parent/child dynamics. That's why we went to a math tutor years ago. We are enrolled in drivers ed, but that only provides a fraction of the hours needed to graduate. Beyond that, we are at ground zero, which starts with the fundamentals of using a clutch. Poor kid has to learn how to drive the old fashioned way! Cheers. David commented 3 months ago | Report 0 0 I agree with the need to remain unemotional. When I taught my daughter to drive, we did this in advance of the driving ed class, but also with the understanding that she would only practice with a parent, in a deserted parking lot, and no matter what happens, we would never yell. She executed some rolling stops...running through a stop sign (in the lot, no cross traffic at all) and while we corrected her, we NEVER yelled "STOP!" We did get her comfortable with signaling her intent well before she did anything. And stressed that just because she signalled what she wanted to do, that didn't give her the right. Safety and the other driver ALWAYS reigns supreme. Also, we bought a trio of yellow magnetic signs for use all around our car when she practiced and later, when driving with a parent under permit. This REALLY helped...I saw more courtesy, backing off, and consideration from other drivers than I have EVER seen before. And I took to leaving those signs on when I drove... it gave me an added layer of safety and buffer zone that they afford her, the new driver also. For $14-19 bucks on ebay, you can't beat this simple investment in safety! O my captain commented 3 months ago | Report 0 0 I would not start with teaching a child to drive on a manual shift with clutch... unless ALL your vehicles have this. In today's world, there is no need to give them the added worry of shifting while trying to coordinate driving skills. I Agree, a professional training course can't be beat, but you can suppliment. (Also, remember if you speed or ask others to watch for cops, you will teach your child to do the same.) I do think it's valuable to teach manual shifting to every driver...in case of emergency... and to give them better sense of how a car operates. But so few cars depend on that now, that it's almost a forgotten art. O my captain commented 3 months ago | Report 0 0 Thanks Captain. Appreciate the insightful thoughts. We are a 100% manual household. Getting her over that hump is really going to be my first focus. Once you get it with a clutch, it becomes second nature pretty quickly -- and then we can go out on the road. David commented 3 months ago | Report 0 0 David, I would like to urge you to work out some way to have an automatic transmission car available for extended experience and practice leading up to the demonstration test for her permanent license. Could you work out a trade with a neighbor or friend for some hours per week (have to talk to your insurance company to be sure). Now it was many decades ago but I will relate how my folks worked out a great way for me to learn. We had one automatic (sedan) and one standard transmission car (Volkswagen bug) in the family. I learned at school in the school's automatic transmission cars and drove occasionally with my folks (but it was stressful - Dad was a better teacher than Mom - too nervous, ha!). Then as I finished up the school program my parents arranged for a driving tutor to pick me up after school and go out for a couple of hours a day for a week or so (I think they bought a package of a defined amount of hours) and practice all the separate skills we had learned at school and that would be on the skills test (parallel parking, three point turnaround, etc.) as well as just plain driving different types of roads and dealing with multiple lane roads and how to get through complex intersections. Then on the last day the instructor took me down to the DMV and I took my driving demonstration test. As I remember it, the written test was taken before this day (they were separate events) - this was in Florida and at that time you could just show up and take the driving exam (waiting in order if there were others before you). The KEY was I took the test in the EXACT same vehicle that I had been getting all that extra practice in with the hired instructor. I knew just how to parallel park that car and felt very much at ease in driving it also. Then after that was finished, my older brother took me out to some small streets and low traffic areas and taught me to drive the standard transmission. I knew how to drive, I just had to add the skills on how to start up smoothly and shift and what to do when coming to a stop, and downshifting when necessary. It was easy to add that on top of the skills I already had in driving. Now as to the prevalence of standard transmissions, they may be a little less common nowadays but I have driven a standard transmission vehicles for over 40 years. I did have an automatic for a short while when I had a hand-me-down vehicle for a few years, but have always thought that I had much more control and safer in driving with a standard transmission (not to mention better fuel efficiency). When J bought her 2005 Honda we waited for a standard model to be brought in (she has always driven them also). I don't think I would drive anything else (until I get my first all electric someday). I do get a chuckle every now and then when I read about someone trying to steal or jack a car and in the end they have to run away because they get in and find three pedals and don't know what to do. Russ Campbell, NWEBS commented 3 months ago | Report 0 0 Ah, I see. If your family is 100% manual, that rules. Your reasoning is sound. If you get the clutch, it becomes second nature. But I also agree whole heartedly with Russ. The manual shifting skills above and beyond standard driving skills for the rest of us, it can come later. However, I had always heard that a manual transmission was more fuel efficient that automatic, cause the driver can assess and adapt to conditions better than an automatic will. (However, once up to speed on a highway, I have heard that automatic transmissions are just as efficent.) O my captain commented 3 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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