Did you know that taking time to properly teach your teenagers to drive can lower your car insurance rates? How is that possible? By making your teenager a safer driver who will be in fewer accidents and receive fewer tickets. It also gives both of you a chance to spend time together and can help you prepare for future conversations about driving.
Here is our list of best tips for speaking with your teen during driving lessons:
1. Be the coach and give specific directions. For example, instead of saying, “you were going too fast around that corner,” tell your teen that corners usually require a driver to go about 10 mph. Talking like this takes judgment out of the conversation and gives specific directions.
2. Instead of reacting and giving corrective statements, ask questions. For example, instead of saying, “you can't do rolling stops at stop signs,” ask how your teen can be sure he or she has completely stopped at a stop sign to avoid tickets for making rolling stops. This takes away the judgment and has your teenager thinking instead of reacting.
Where to start is important.
1. Start in a parking lot in daylight. Make sure the conditions are they best they can be for the first driving lesson. Set up a few cones in an empty space and challenge your teen to stop before hitting cones, to turn a corner without hitting cones and to back up without hitting cones. Make it a challenge and if your teen does hit a cone, instead of making a comment, ask a question about how they could avoid that next time.
2. After you know your teen can handle a car, graduate from the parking lot to streets that are not busy. After he or she has the hang of it, try busier roads, highways and nighttime driving. Gradually increase the level of challenge so your teen is eased into a variety of driving conditions.
If you are going to teach your teen to drive, use these four tips to set your teen up for success. It will pay off in the long run because your teen's insurance rates should be lower as he or she continues to be a safe driver.
Find out if your teen can save today. Call Automatic Insurance at (954) 421-9953 for more information on auto insurance.