Truer words have never been spoken.
Don’t assume that just because you’re a good driver, you’ll never get in an accident. The other guy may be a bad driver (or a deer) and will put you in an accident.
That might work fine enough for you, but lots of interstates have only two lanes.
- Got permit late 15, license mid 16.
Learn the problem spots where you drive. Drive him on the freeways nearby and point out the exits that get backed up onto the highway, the blind corners, odd merges, etc.
Practice evasion. Have him learn his cars limits by experience: ability to brake, dodge, and accelerate out of trouble. Work on skids in an icy parking lot - I did that for the first time this year - fun, but sobering.
Finally - be the hardass. I hated getting driving privileges curtailed for whatever reason, but it kept me safe. And the ‘my dad is a hardass’ excuse gave me some outs from situations I wasn’t terribly comfortable with saying no to on my own.
When you are behind the wheel YOU are the guidance system for a 2 ton missile.
This is what my father told me and what I am telling my 16 year old son. Just about all kids have played video games where they have used some sort of missile or rocket launcher and they have seen the damage it does to whatever they have aimed at. I told him to think about the damage and that in real life what happens in an “accident” is NOT cool or even neat. That said, I am fortunate enough to have a son who is interested in Forensics and he recently got to go to the morgue and see a few corpses. One of the deceased was a lady who looked like a mother of one of his friends. She had been a passenger in a car that was hit by a speeding 17 year old who lost control of his vehicle. He told me later that it made him serious think about what I had said. My advice to you? Make sure that he understands that sometimes the results of his actions affect others forever.
Don’t talk with your car.
Road rage is just one example of this. But some people communicate: " You’re driving too slow" by creeping up behind you. And those that feel pressed drive extra slow to communicate: “I will speed up if I pretty well feel like it, thank you”. And then someone else in the next lane will keep far too much distance, almost edging over into the next lane, because he wants to communicate: " Y’all are fucking crazy".
Don’t talk with your car.
Driving is the single most dangerous thing a person will ever do. Hundreds of people are killed or maimed in cars every single day. It’s so common, so regular, so routine to come across a fatal crash, that the only time someone dying in a car crash makes the news is if the driver did something really spectacularly stupid.
Flipping the car? It literally happens every day in one tunnel in Montreal. So routine that no news organizations in town even bother sending a cameraman to check anymore.
That’s mine. How I’d phrase it is: You CANNOT trust other drivers. Ever, at all. They will break laws. They will run red lights. They will turn unexpectedly, and not turn when you expect them to. They will chat on their phones and eat cereal while traveling 70 mph. Assume the worst, and be aware.
Just this morning, I told my kids about my accident years ago where a 72-year old farmer blew a stop sign and plowed his F150 into my Dodge Dakota. He was about 45 mph westbound, I was about 60 mph southbound.
It was spectacular. My light truck barrel-rolled merrily down the roadside. The truck bed was peeled back like a sardine can lid, the cab was crimped. My glasses and other possessions were left 25-feet up the road as I bounced and tumbled. This brand new truck turned to totaled-out junk in a split second. I crawled up out of my window, dropped to the ground, and walked away.
I was also car #10 in an 11 car pile-up once. I also walked away from that.
Always, always, always wear a seatbelt. It doesn’t matter how good a driver you are, the world is full of people that aren’t good drivers.
Everytime one of these threads come up, I have to wonder–
Am I the only person who was taught 8 & 4 instead of 10 & 2?
Anyways:
- Stay well behind transport trucks so they can see you if you’re in the same lane.
- Stay well behind motorcycles–they can stop a lot faster than you.
- Err on the side of caution with braking, meaning don’t expect the car to stop on a dime. Especially in a vehicle you’re unfamiliar with–the brakes might not be as tight as you’re expecting (I once saw a new Chevy truck get knocked out of commission because it didn’t stop before reaching the vehicle in front of it).
- Assume people around you don’t see you. Most of them will drive that way.
A lot of people think that the purpose of headlights is to allow you to see the road in front of you. They’re wrong. That is a purpose of headlights, but there’s one more: To make it easier for other drivers to see you. It’s the law in some states that, if it’s raining hard enough that you have to use your wipers on one of the steady settings (as opposed to the intermittent or delay settings), you should have your headlights on (I believe this is the law in Florida). Even if it’s not required by law, it’s still a good idea to turn on your headlights in that situation.
It’s not a good idea to put off getting gas until the very last minute. This is particularly true if you’re driving in conditions where walking would be unpleasant (raining, snowing, very hot, that sort of thing) or if you’re driving in an area that you are not familiar or comfortable with.
Any story he’s heard about ways to fool the breathalyzer or radar is almost certainly not going to work. He should know that penalties for drunk driving are often more severe for people under 21.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to let him see some of the costs of maintaining and driving a car. Let him see the insurance bill. Tell him what happens to your insurance bill if you have an accident or are convicted of a traffic violation. Take him along when you get some routine maintenance done on the car, or at least show him the bill. Have him pump gas sometime (unless you live in a state where you can’t pump your own gas) and make sure he notices what that costs.