For the past several months I have featured resources to assist parents as they work with their teenagers learning to drive.   I can’t stress enough the critical role parents play in preparing their child to become a licensed driver.  The students that are most successful are those whose parents have worked in tandem with us to prepare their child for the responsibility of driving.  Our training provides a student with a solid foundation of awareness, skills and good habits.  The parent role is to reinforce what they learn here and to provide their child with the necessary practice in order to gain proficiency in the skills being taught.  Learning to drive is no different than anything your children have had to learn to do.  If they don’t practice what they learn then they don’t develop the skills and since this is not something they can practice on their own, parents MUST participate.

Unfortunately, there are too many novice drivers on our roadways with very little driving practice, yet they have a license.  The state of Arizona requires 30 hours of practice and of those 30 hours 10 should be night time driving.  I can guarantee you that there is a very large population of novice drivers on the roads with far less than 30 hours of practice.  DrivingMBA recommends 100 hours of practice in a variety of driving conditions.  Going back and forth to the same place does not give students the varied experience in different environments and road conditions.   I am always amazed when parents talk to us and they are “put off” by the fact that we actually expect them to participate in the process.  This is your child.  My assumption is you want what is best for them, no matter what it takes, then trust me when I say, this is what it takes.

We have come across yet another great resource to assist parents in the practice with their teens.  The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)  has developed several research based tools that complement DrivingMBA’s training and are an excellent resource for families.

The website is:  teendrivesource.org. From this website you can download the following tools:

• TeenDrivingPlan Parent Guide
• TeenDrivingPlan Goal Guide
• TeenDrivingPlan Logging and Rating Tool

The Teen Driving Plan Parent Guide is a robust tool with videos that will assist in all types of coaching scenarios.