<p>Perhaps find a driving school like the ones described here:</p>
<p>[Teen</a> defensive driving school improves confidence, skills](<a href=“http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/08/teen-defensive-driving-school-improves-confidence-skills.html]Teen”>http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/08/teen-defensive-driving-school-improves-confidence-skills.html)</p>
<p>Some information here may be helpful as well:</p>
<p><a href=“You are being redirected...”>You are being redirected...;
<p>I have to confess…I have not done much highway driving around here either. It’s scary enough when I drive.</p>
<p>Poor loony mom–I’m one too.
Here is one phrase I’ve drilled into my kid’s heads akin to Collegequery safety:
“The 30 seconds you think you’ll save could cost you hours or worse.”
It’s just another form of " better safe than sorry" but after watching people on the side of the road in accidents it just seems to have more impact. I have to remind myself of that also.</p>
<p>UCBalumnus - thanks for those links! I will check them out. </p>
<p>I wish I had known about it months ago. 
</p>
<p>Gouf - absolutely right about the thirty seconds thing. </p>
<p>I also make sure the phone is off and the radio is low before we go out. Don’t want her to be distracted. However, she would like me to be checking my phone while I am supervising, so I won’t distract her and will have my mind on something. Argh.</p>
<p>I’m the same way. We’re in CA too and my son has his driving test a week from Friday. I absolutely hate going out with him, he’s not that bad but I don’t even like to be the passenger when my husband drives. I think my husband took my oldest out more than I did but with this kid it’s fallen more on me. We haven’t done any freeway driving yet we just take routes that don’t involve freeway driving since it’s not on the driving test.</p>
<p>Samurai, I’m finding it harder to teach the youngest too. She’s been driving for a while, but I still get really nervous and she’s really, really, stubborn. For example, she drove into a traffic circle and barely slowed down, I’m yelling, “stop! stop!”. Later I explain to her that you have to yield to all traffic in the circle and she gets mad at me, really mad, for not telling her that when she was slowing down for the circle. I try to explain, that’s why I was yelling “stop” since stop means stop and can be said in less than 15 seconds, arrghghgghgh, (sound of head banging into wall). </p>
<p>Mostly, if we avoid arguments, things go well. I insist on her NOT playing any music either (and she nearly always argues about that). I have to work on not getting so easily tense too. I’ll be grabbing that high handle and tensing every muscle in my body every time she needs to brake. And people brake differently. I’m used to driving and I’m used to my own way of braking so hers will make me tense. I’ve learned to defuse the situation by yelling “butt clench!” when I find myself doing that and then she’ll laugh, and brake a bit sooner too. Phew…</p>
<p>Honestly, realizing that I am not the only one going through this is helping me very much. Thank you all!</p>
<p>Butt clench. Ha ha. Nice.</p>
<p>I always insisted on NO radio. Phones off. And you’re mind is SUPPOSED to be on the driving. Now the REAL trick is to appear calm in the passenger seat…and keep comments to yourself…and a smile on your face…</p>
<p>Keep calm. Must keep calm. </p>
<p>I wonder if hypnosis would help before one of these sessions!</p>
<p>Once, I told my son, “Go straight at the stop sign.” He took me so literally that he didn’t come to a stop first! He actually had the nerve to say, “You didn’t tell me to stop first!” Ack.</p>
<p>This may sound crazy but I found that I could handle the stress better when I let my son drive while I was still waking up- first thing in the morning. My reflexes and insight were a little slower and it saved me from having heart palpitations. I like the idea of talking about what you are seeing as you drive, I’ll have to try that with DD next year.</p>
<p>I know that after I woke up, I would talk to my son about things I do while driving, making it a let’s guess what the cars around us will do…who’s going to try to hit us and making sure there was room to maneuver. </p>
<p>DS told me he found driving long distance boring. While I was driving I would talk to him about what I really see when I drive- especially on the freeway. See that car- moving in and out of traffic- give him plenty of room. So the car coming up from the on ramp- they aren’t going fast enough to merge at our speed, move over to give him room…those type things.</p>
<p>That helped us both a little, although he still doesn’t like to drive. go figure.</p>
<p>When I got into my accident while learning to drive as a teen, I went through a yellow light. The guy had the bright idea to turn in front of me, by jumping the light. I had no idea to swerve. Probably is what saved me. I went straight into that car. My dad said later if I was more experienced, I would have probably swerved and gone into the power pole. Only minor injuries, but man, that car was never the same!</p>
<p>Statistics say that 40 hours of driving time pretty much makes you the best driver you will be.
I think that depends on the driving experience. When I took driver’s ed years ago in high school cones were set up (like a test track) and we had to weave in and out, had the ignition turned off on us (so power steering went out). Pretty much my driver instructor tried to replicate some hairy situations.<br>
My county had gotten rid of driver’s ed in the schools several years back but reinstituted it because of the number of accidents among young people. Basically it was deemed a public service to have young driver’s trained to make all of us safer.</p>
<p>I find it interesting that the graduated license system is in play in California. If my kid waits till 17 1/2, she needs virtually no instruction behind the wheel.</p>
<p>Accident rates have gone down for the younger drivers, up for the older - not as well trained drivers. </p>
<p>I like the idea of the defensive driving classes. Great idea!</p>
<p>I can’t handle this either and she’s my oldest. Right there with you on the perimenopausal nerves. I’m calling the driving school tomorrow to pay for them to teach her. Previously, they’d told us that their policy is for the student to be taught by her parents for about 20 hours before starting the official driving hours that count toward the license. But they are more than willing to be paid $55/hour to teach basic skills and I am more than willing to pay that if it means not dying!</p>
<p>I would never hire someone as a consultant for college selection or essay writing. But the $ I spent for driving lessons in addition to driver’s ed was $ well spent. D had 10 pre-driver’s ed lessons this summer. Thinking of paying for another 10 now that she is in driver’s ed and needs the pratice for the road test…H took her out recently and I know there was some screaming/ drama involved. I’m not even attempting it yet.</p>
<p>Not only were hairy situations great for learning defensive driving (and I’ve needed to use some of that over the years), I remember it as so much fun as a teenager.
We were on a school track and pretty much anything could be set up with no risk to life or limb.</p>
<p>All this begs the question of economics. Private lessons are expensive. Accidents are really expensive (and can kill). Insurance demands it. Why is driver’s ed not in the school anymore for most districts? The economics of the situation would say school’s should provide it and parents should be demanding it My county has reinstituted it but they seem to be an exception (as far aw I can tell).</p>
<p>It’s a good question. I am surprised more schools don’t offer it.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be a great PTA event, to have students participate and have some of those endless fundraising dollars be spent towards teaching kids defensive driving?</p>
<p>Driver’s ed is in our school district, but it allows for about 15 or 20 minutes per week behind the wheel each week. It is a parent’s responsiblility to get kids to practice driving and to put in enough hours to be at all experienced behind the wheel.</p>