How do you deal with your teenagers driving?

[jenyurko]

I'm on the fence. My daughter (20) bought herself a car and got her license late last year (we are SO behind the times as parents, lol). She's been rear-ended once already - nothing serious, nobody was hurt, and the other guy was insured (a rarity in this state ) - but I about lost my mind when she called me in a panic & crying, not knowing what to do (despite the piece of paper in her glove box that told her what to do, lol). But there are other days when I'm SO SO glad she's able to drive herself around, because her social life and work/school schedule were totally draining. And then I feel bad because I felt that way

Today I bought a car for my 19yo, his first car. He doesn't have a license yet, just a permit, and here I go, sitting on the fence again. Yay for an end coming to my taxi service with him, but dangit. Alabama drivers are careless idiots & I swear 75% of vehicle owners in this state have NO insurance and about 25% of those aren't licensed for whatever reason. They are WAY worse down south on the coast, so I guess I should be grateful for that, but still.

When he heard that his brother now has a car, my 16yo has renewed his fervor about driving as well. He's taking driver's ed next year at school, and having behind-the-wheel time before he takes the class is a requirement. So I'll have to let him tool around in my car this summer, and I am a HORRIBLE passenger. I do not like to not be in control of the car.

It's a vicious circle and I want off the ride now.... or at least have my hands on the wheel Am I the only one?

 

[Scraptious]

I feel your pain, lol. I used to teach behind the wheel driving Driver's Ed but it was much harder for me teaching my son when he was learning to drive! It helps when you have a brake on the passenger side, lol. He's well past that stage now (he's 42) but soon his daughter will be wanting to learn to drive. I don't envy him. Hang in there.

 

[jenyurko]

I seriously looked into having a passenger side brake installed LOL!!

 

[Mother Bear]

Couldn't wait for my kids to get their license and start driving themselves around.
Our laws are a bit different here as you have to have at least 100 hours driving with a supervised driver recorded in a log book, pass a written and practical test. After gaining your license (under 23) you are a P1 for 1 year, then a P2 for 2 years. Any infringements during this time and you will loose your license.
It is also illegal to drive a car without insurance here.

 

[Glori2]

Such a difficult time wanting freedom from driving the kids yet needing to protect them at all costs! For me the freedom to not have to drive them around (due to horrid headaches) I had to let go of the control and put them in God's hands...while worrying of course. You know your kids and how much you trust them...I understand there are other people not as trustworthy on the road (ugh!!) and probably even have that parental "mom" feeling of what's best...go with that...and PRAY!

 

[Ozegirl]

It has been many, many years since I taught my kids to drive but I remember well the sense of freedom I experienced as each got their licence. The downside was that I would lay awake at night waiting for them to come home, they were all good drivers but I was more worried about the other idiots on the road.

Fast forward to grandkids and the worry is still there. More so in some ways because road rage was unheard of when my own learnt to drive. There was not the manic traffic and drug affected drivers were not your norm as they are now. There were no distracting phone calls or messages and texting was yet to be invented. The stats for drink driving are way better nowadays but drugs are a major problem.

Like you I hate being a passenger. There are only a couple of people I feel safe and relaxed with in the passenger seat. Teaching your children and grandchildren to drive is scary...nail biting, teeth gritting stuff...but then so much of parenting is! We trust...we pray...and we have faith!

 

[Fayette]

I was always a horrible passenger when my kids were learning to drive. I always took the back seat and Kees took the front seat. We live in a very small town, so it's less worrying driving around here. Now I'm helping grandkids drive. That is way less stressful than helping my son's fiance' learn to drive....oh my heck, she had some close calls when I was in the car. I actually love having my 16 year old grandson drive me around...and he feels all important His sister just got her permit and will probably be asking to drive with us soon. Hehe, I'm a little less excited about that. She got to drive partway while they're on a trip this weekend, and Jaxon, the 16 year old, sent me a gif saying he survived. Lol, he said Paula was all over the road.

As far as the freedom goes, I was so happy when I didn't have to run a taxi service anymore. But, I kept a pretty tight reign on the kids at first. They only got to drive certain places (like to and from school and work) for quite a while. But, even doing that took a lot of the demands off of my time. It's all part of growing up...and everyone has to adapt. Good luck with that. Moms never stop worrying, no matter how old the kids/grandkids get.

Here's the image Jax sent me when they got to Reno grin

 

[jenyurko]

@Mother Bear, they're only required 30 hours here and insurance is also mandatory, but these people down here don't seem to want to spend the money. I was dinged 3 times when we lived in Mississippi, and NOT ONE of those people had insurance.

I took both the boys out today in the "new" car, and I thought I'd be working on 3 point turns with JD (the 19yo) at this point (he's already had Driver's Ed in school). Nope. He was just as 'bad' as Nicky is. And Nicky, being his father's son, was being a smartass until I threatened to never take him out again, ever. Taking his hands off the wheel, looking at me instead of the 'road' (I took them to the city stadium and it's giant empty parking lot), doing little spurts of speed, etc. Sigh.