<p>Both girls were within two months of turning 16 and had both gotten their learner’s permits as soon as they were 15, completed driver’s education (and behind the wheel) and had most of their behind the wheel hours out of the way. This was also eight years ago when driving restrictions and learner’s permits were not as restrictive as they are now. </p>
<p>This was also an Illinois state permit. </p>
<p>The one area of driving the kids did not get much experience with, with their instructor was interstate driving. We live in the Chicagoland area and there’s just not a place around here that offers the open roads and no traffic opportunities that west Texas does. I wanted my daughter (as did the other parent) to get interstate driving experience and not freak out (like so many kids do) the first time she had to travel the interstate or toll road alone. We would literally go ten minutes without seeing another car in either direction during the middle of the day.</p>
<p>What I have done is make the decision I felt was right for my family and my children. Others have the right to parent their children how they see fit and make their own guidelines. If it’s legal, and doesn’t involve my child, I’m not concerned.</p>
<p>Regarding driver’s ed. at school. It was primarily a classroom course. They drove around a small parking lot on school property, no faster than 5-10 mph occaisionally. Many kids don’t take it, as it does not help insurance rates anymore.</p>
<p>^^^^bluiguana, this was not a post questioning a parent’s right to make this decision. It was a sincere question wondering how one gets around this situation if driver’s ed. in your area works on this basis.</p>
<p>I would never let my kids practice driving with other kids in the car. And I would not let my kids ride in a car while another kid is practicing with a permit. As far as I know it is not illegal in California, but just common sense. I am like a lot of posters here; even with 6 years between kids, I always checked with the other parent to see if it was OK for their child to ride in my older kids car. Even now with a 14 year old and his sister who is a 26 year old teacher, I let parents know that I will not be driving. It is just common courtesy to let the parents know who will be driving their child.</p>
<p>It hasn’t come up for me yet, but I think I would let my kid ride in a car driven by a friend if a parent is present. Not for a long distance. Where we are it’s all backroads and everything is within a 10 minute ride.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4- my internet radar misinterpreted your post…</p>
<p>Drivers Ed in the classroom is still in the schools here, although being phased out. We never used Behind the Wheel for a number of reasons.<br>
Through the ‘parent network’ it is not hard to get word on private drivers ed courses. You know who the lazy ones are, and who the ones who are careful and on the ball. Our boys had 100+hrs when they went to drivers ed. with one other student each time. We spoke with the instructor up front about safety concerns, how are the students coached, how many students at one time, and when classes could be scheduled with the least amount of student drivers. We scheduled in the summer so daylight hours were longer and traffic was lighter. He asked about areas we might want help. It was not inexpensive, however I have recommended him to many, many parents.
Shop around. Not all ‘schools’ are the same. Instructors will be willing to work with you if you are flexible.</p>
<p>We don’t have school-based driver’s ed. We hired professional driving instructors for our kids and made sure that they were the only kids in the car during lessons. In any case, driver’s ed is a bit different situation than it would be with a parent. I’ve never seen an instructional vehicle that is not equipped with dual controls.</p>
<p>There’s no way I’d have allowed my kids to ride with an inexperienced driver. The chance of an accident is just too high - much higher than riding with a driver with years of experience. In addition to the lack of experience, the driver also has a lot of distractions by having all the passengers in the car. </p>
<p>I do remember when I took driver’s ed in HS a long time ago, there were 3 students plus the instructor and the students would trade off but this was different in that the instructor was a professional driving instructor rather than a random mom, the course taken was a lower speed course the instructor knew well, and the car had a secondary brake pedal in the passenger side the instructor could use if necessary. This is a major difference.</p>
<p>I think the mother’s exercising poor judgment in doing this in the first place and further, not getting the consent of the other parents beforehand. Who wants their kid to be in the hands of someone like this?</p>
<p>Why take the risk with your kid when it’s not necessary? Just say “no”.</p>
<p>My S didn’t get his license until he was 18, so there were no restrictions on driving friends around. His friend’s parents were aware that S was giving them rides at this point - I think they were relieved that their taxi service duities were lessened.</p>
<p>That said, I would never have let him drive friends (with me in the car) while he had his permit. In fact, I would not let his younger sisters be in the car with us. Heck, at the beginning, <em>I</em> didn’t want to be in the car.</p>
<p>As a Californian teen driver who got her permit last July and her license in March, and so was driving with a permit for 8 months, I’m pretty sure the law said I could only have a person/parent/guardian over 25 in the passenger’s seat next to me. No one else, not anyone in the back, not anyone under 25. If any other passengers actually are allowed, I’m pretty sure they had to be 25 and above. I mean it really is best as I was learning, because I didn’t even really want to drive people. It’d make me feel a little self conscious, when I wasn’t even sure of my own driving yet.
However, I can only speak for myself, and as I drove more and more, yes I felt better about taking people places. There are some people with permits who drive EVERYWHERE and are actually better drivers than some who’ve had their license for years. It really depends.
But I can definitely see from a parent’s standpoint how one would be worried about new drivers. My own mom doesn’t really like me driving on the freeway, especially with others in my car (she’s not really worried about my skills, she’s more scared I won’t be able to react to other drivers if something bad were to happen).</p>
<p>After I logged off, I remembered something. My daughter goes to a private school-no driver’s ed classes there. So we had to find a private driving school. We used the one in our general neighborhood which most families I know use. My daughter was required to have a certain number of hours of classroom instruction logged, a certain number of hours of driving with an instructor, AND a certain number of hours as an observer-i.e. she was required to sit in the back seat while another student driver did her driving time with an instructor in the front passenger seat. I have no idea if these requirements were state law driven or simply policies of this particular driving school.</p>
<p>This was so in line with my own experience, that I suppose I have never given it another moment’s thought. Not until my own experience driving to our lake house, which caused me to re-evaluate the whole thing.</p>
<p>Way back in the dark ages I, too, had behind the wheel training at school…teacher was bald “boys” vp. 2-3 kids in the back seat, one driving. We were all so scared of that man that nobody misbehaved, so no inside-the-car distractions. These days behind the wheel training is outside school around here. The driving school we chose for S always uses a 1:1 student teacher ratio, so no chance of other kids distracting from the back seat.</p>
<p>I worry about the distractions from the back seat, even if a parent is in the shotgun seat. I am not totally confident my youngest will be able to tune that stuff out. I’ve seen too many things go wrong over the years to tempt fate in this way.</p>
<p>I’d be more comfortable with a permit driver/a parent than a young licensee alone. Parents can look out for possible trouble, make the driver slow down, enforce other safety practices. I am quite sure there are fewer incidents when parents are in the car.</p>
<p>I’m with you on that one! I dont feel like I have any control other than to shout “STOP” every so often to avoid hitting another car. </p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your comments with me - very reassuring to see that I’m not totally over the top in this like my husband and daughter seem to think. I like the idea of the 6 month rule too. I know that in order to enforce this I need my husband’s support - hoping that when he reads the statistics on new driver accidents in the handbook he will agree.</p>
<p>Checked the CA DMV site–only requirement is that there be a 25 year old in the passenger seat next to you who could take over the car if needed. Nothing said about the back seat needing to be empty.</p>
<p>I agree, although it means being unpopular at times. Going through that kind of loss as a student WILL change your attitude about what you feel is safe & your RIGHT to invoke that as a parent.</p>
<p>roshke, That sounds like our state law. We have to do all that including the curfew, practice driving, etc. Does that also prohibit a backseat passenger?</p>
<p>We had a FAMILY RULE…kids were not allowed to be passengers in a car with a driver who had their permit. </p>
<p>What the OP describes is legal here…permit holders MUST have a driver who has been licensed fully for three year in the front seat. Passengers can ride in the back with this arrangement (our family said NO).</p>
<p>Oddly, in this state, once the new driver gets their licences, they cannot carry ANY passengers for 6 months. NONE.</p>