Almost done with my son Bryan. In Ohio you get your "temps" at 15 1/2 if you pass a written test. You cannot drive alone, and must complete 50 hours with an adult, 10 of which must be at night. You then are required to pass classroom "drivers ed", and then take 8 hours on the road with an instructor. After that you must go take the driving test with the state. If you pass, wallah, you can drive by yourself and have your permanent license. Bryan was the opposite of Andrew I guess. He's been bugging me for months. I held off till he was 16. Right now he is doing the driving part of drivers ed. He's got his 50 hours done and the classroom education is also complete. So he's technically only a couple weeks away from his perm license. P.S. They don't have to parallel park anymore. . He's primarily done his 50 hours on his moms CR-V. Both my cars are stick. He wants a stick when he gets his car so I've been doing the church parking lot routine too. Several 1st gear stalls and burned clutches later, he's almost there. My other car has a tough clutch to learn on, so I suspect after he gets a Civic or something he'll be just fine (dad says while suffering from whiplash).

It's funny, this represents true freedom for a young person. When Matt got his license our world changed. Lots of worrying, believe me. Teenagers just think they are indestructible. They are never home anymore. Your relationship with your kid will change. My .02.

 

Boy, do I ever remember those days. I still have whiplash from teaching my three to drive a stick. Their dad didn't have the nerve or patience so silly me took on the challenge. Now my oldest drives for a living and I remind him who got him started every time I'm a passenger with him now and he does something crazy (they all like to tailgate). They're really all good drivers otherwise and your teens will be too one day. I remember thinking of it as a major rite of passage. Good luck through the passage, gang. Now we won't mention insurance, will we?

 

I don't have kids, and most likely never will, but yes, I have taught people how to drive, or more accurately, taught them specific things such as how to shift, how to heal-toe, how to threshold brake, how to nail the apex, how to see the line, how to carry the speed through the corner, you know, stuff like that...

A performance school is a good idea. Do some checking around, I know as a track instructor I have had 18-year olds, but I don't recall ever having a 16-year old. If you can't find an organization that will take him yet, get him to an autox, or maybe a safety school specifically designed for teens. We had a teen program in the area here for a while, but their business plan did not pan out and they were not able to make a go of it.

 

Triple H, you didn't have my husband as a student in a rally car in Forida, did you?

Hey gang, for those of you who will be a Spring Fling, be sure to ask Andy about his rally car lessons.

 

For some reason I'm I'm glad to say no to that question...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Triple-H

 

YES! And it took me a good 5 minutes to wipe the drool up off the kitchen floor...

This would be Doug the first time a student stood on the gas of an E60 M5 going up the back straight at The Glen

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Triple-H
YES! And it took me a good 5 minutes to wipe the drool up off the kitchen floor...

 

I took my daughter out to an older cemetery here in town for driving practice -- good twisting roads (no live people to run over) and no traffic. The lanes were perfect in that she learned how to stay on her side with relative ease. We even practiced giving turn signals, etc. when she came to the little intersections. It was a great place to learn to maneuver the car.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by valentine
I took my daughter out to an older cemetery here in town for driving practice -- good twisting roads (no live people to run over) and no traffic.