Does she need glasses?
Help with teaching a kid to drive.
- Thread starter Chris142
- Start date
She probably just doesn’t get the concept of how much and how fast the steering wheel needs to move, that’s all.
My daughter went through this as well, but got it pretty quickly in the parking lot doing circles.
She needs to mow a few lawns on a simple riding lawn mower... Probably best to not engage the blades the first time or two.
This.
This.
I started on the lawn tractor years ago, then a go-kart, then an ATV, then a farm tractor... then finally a car. By the time I got to a car driving was easy and I was confident enough that my parents were not scared and stomping the invisible passenger side brake pedal like they were with my two younger sisters.
I taught my son to drive in empty parking lots when he was about 21 years old as he never wanted anything to do with driving. Unfortunately, my wife thinks it is fine if her precious sonny boy doesn't drive. She only wanted him to have a license as a form of ID. Nuff said about my wife.
He did well in the parking lots and we could also drive on the actual testing course at the Motor Vehicle Agency in off hours to get the feel of it. Never drove on actual roads with traffic at all. Test day comes and he passes with flying colors and that was the last time he ever drove a car. Six years later he now has a computer job that he does from home so he never has to leave the house. It boggles my mind. To me, my car is freedom. From the time I was six, I was driving a motorized go-cart, golf-course sized lawn mowers, mini-bikes, motorcycles. My uncle was head of the DPW back in the day when there were still some dirt roads in rural NJ. Heck, I even got to drive the road grater to smooth out the hump in the center of the road. Of course I was sitting on my Uncle's lap as I couldn't yet reach the pedals!
Good times though! Thanks Uncle Leo!!
He did well in the parking lots and we could also drive on the actual testing course at the Motor Vehicle Agency in off hours to get the feel of it. Never drove on actual roads with traffic at all. Test day comes and he passes with flying colors and that was the last time he ever drove a car. Six years later he now has a computer job that he does from home so he never has to leave the house. It boggles my mind. To me, my car is freedom. From the time I was six, I was driving a motorized go-cart, golf-course sized lawn mowers, mini-bikes, motorcycles. My uncle was head of the DPW back in the day when there were still some dirt roads in rural NJ. Heck, I even got to drive the road grater to smooth out the hump in the center of the road. Of course I was sitting on my Uncle's lap as I couldn't yet reach the pedals!
Good times though! Thanks Uncle Leo!!
A few people never learn. My mother took lessons, her driving instructor had never failed to teach anyone before. She would say things like "we drove to XXX and I only froze up at the wheel once." She never got the hang of it but she only started when she was about 60. She eventually gave up.
A male friend had always taken public transport (he grew up in a big city). He started driving when he was about 40 and got a license but was a terrible driver. He had so many accidents he eventually had to give up his driver's license so the family could afford auto insurance.
I think the idea of a low speed vehicle (tractor, garden tractor, mower, go-cart) and lots of time behind the wheel would get your 19 year old started. She's young enough she should be able to learn. It took my daughter a while to learn that you had to slow down and turn the wheel more than a little bit to navigate square corners. Driving is not necessarily intuitive.
On a TV show called "Canada's Worst Drivers" they had a young nurse who admitted she had run into dozens of parked cars but never reported the accidents. She thought that everyone did that but just didn't talk about it. She had no idea about road signs, solid lines, etc. They eventually taught her to be a pretty good driver. She was finally able to drive on a long trip through city traffic without any faults, infractions or errors.
A male friend had always taken public transport (he grew up in a big city). He started driving when he was about 40 and got a license but was a terrible driver. He had so many accidents he eventually had to give up his driver's license so the family could afford auto insurance.
I think the idea of a low speed vehicle (tractor, garden tractor, mower, go-cart) and lots of time behind the wheel would get your 19 year old started. She's young enough she should be able to learn. It took my daughter a while to learn that you had to slow down and turn the wheel more than a little bit to navigate square corners. Driving is not necessarily intuitive.
On a TV show called "Canada's Worst Drivers" they had a young nurse who admitted she had run into dozens of parked cars but never reported the accidents. She thought that everyone did that but just didn't talk about it. She had no idea about road signs, solid lines, etc. They eventually taught her to be a pretty good driver. She was finally able to drive on a long trip through city traffic without any faults, infractions or errors.
You said the word Help, and I will do the best I can, the 1st thing here is that this 19 year old has to have the desire to really want to drive a car. I see what you are saying about the driving concept, the 1st step might be a riding mower, and this may take awhile. I learned to ride a 2-wheel bike at 5 years old, then I used my Dad's Snapper Riding Mower at 10 or so, well when I could hit the brakes then I started mowing the yard, that might have been 11 or 12. Before I turned 16, I learned to drive on a 1966 Pontiac Star Chief Executive, which is basically a Catalina. So, this is 1984, before I am going to get my license, the other car he had was a 1977 Lincoln Continental. It is 40 years later and I can still here his screaming, as I am writing this.
I end up doing the Drivers Ed thing at my High School over the summer, and I am driving some small 4 door Toyota, maybe it was a Tercel or Corolla. Quick Ratio Steering, it was awesome, I ended up taking my Driver's Test on this same type of car. I got a 99 out of 100 on my driver's test.
Good Luck Chris142, this is more on the 19-year-old and not yourself.
I cant reach the emergency brake or steering wheel to do that safely from the passenger side. She could be killed on my old tractor if she turned it over so thats a no also. Plus its a manual with a hand throttle.
She is enrolled in the local collage. Unfortunatly the busses do not even come close to my house plus whoever designed the routes didnt have any sense. She cant get to school or home on time if she did ride a bus
she has them
Years ago a neighbor's family and I got into sailing. I tIought they're eldest daughter to sail. Sailing is a lot of fun, but it is very demanding of maintaining the heading of the boat because the angle of attack of the wind changes with respect to changes of the heading of the boat. That teachers one to look far ahead and pay close attention to any change of heading. After a couple of summers that elder daughter became very proficient at sailing. When she got her learners permit the very same day her mother and her and the younger daughter set out to drive from Pittsburgh to California. And that young girl that had the experience of sailing drove most of the way. The father of the family had to work so he ended up taking a plane to meet them out there.
My point is that sailing is an excellent way of teaching one to steer something.
As others have pointed out already, it might be a good idea to get her to be controlling something that moves at a slow and steady spand the she can spend a lot of hours controlling where a mistake, is not going to damage anything.
My point is that sailing is an excellent way of teaching one to steer something.
As others have pointed out already, it might be a good idea to get her to be controlling something that moves at a slow and steady spand the she can spend a lot of hours controlling where a mistake, is not going to damage anything.
My maternal grandmother never drove a car. She found ways to get around. My mom didn't drive until her 30's. Buses, rides from friends, then my dad drove after they got married, until she finally learned out of necessity.
Maybe this girl just isn't capable. There's Uber, Lyft, etc these days.
Maybe this girl just isn't capable. There's Uber, Lyft, etc these days.
Always encourage learner to try on my manual trans in a quiet parking lot for selfish reasons. Reasoning: more manual trans capable drivers = more demand, at least until EVs overtake. Have had several successful converts as well as family members moving abroad where the market is still primarily manual trans. Has served them well.
I taught numerous kids in the family how to drive. But I ran out of patience with my grandson. He just couldn't put it all together. He was also nervous the entire time. We sent him to driving school and the in class time made a huge difference. After classroom instruction he did way way better. Send her to a good driving school.
