We already have a law here in New Jersey about this. Only one teenage, non family member, is allowed to be in a car driven by a 17 year old.

The problem is that it is a secondary offense, that is the police cannot stop the driver for this offense, but can only issue a summons if the driver is stopped for a primary offense. This is also true of the hand held cell phone law in New Jersey.

As a result of the secondary status of the law, very few teenagers obey it. That is true of the handheld cell phone law too. Because it is a secondary offense very few people have changed their cell phone habits.

None the less, I warned Andrew that I won't tolerate this, and that he is not to have more than one friend in the car at a time.

 

I learned to drive in a 4 door Volkswagen Rabbit DIESEL, with a "grab and guess" 5 speed manual. The car had 44 horsepower, so starting on hills was TOUGH, and so was my dad.

We started when I was 15 by having me drive the 20 miles to school--my dad worked nearby, and we carpooled. It wasn't legal, but we felt that this learning experience was important. By the time my test came around, the information was all redundant. My dad also taught me to double clutch, heel and toe, and how to drive properly in the snow. I got much more than 6 hours of compulsory driving.

The most important pieces of information I learned were how to extend my safety margin by extending my sightlines and effective use of peripheral vision. The other was doing everything (shifting/braking/turning) as smoothly as possible.

I bet it's a fun exeperience for a dad, and will be remembered for a long time.

 

As a matter of fact, it is. I've probably enjoyed it more than Andrew.

 

Andrew took his road test today. He passed without any problem.

We went to the motor vehicle department to validate his license and I put him on my insurance.

This summer he goes to a driving school.

Now he first learns to drive. The adventure begins.

 

Congrats, Rob. Now, hide the S's keys!

 

I have a 16 year old son but he is busy studying for his SAT and not too concerned about driving which is fine by me. Especially in MD, there were too many teen driver accidents and MD is making it harder for teenage drivers with all kinds of restrictions. I can relax for the time being.

 

Congrats to another future driver of America.

 

I've taught both my kids to drive, when they were 16. Daughter now 23, son now 20. They had the 6 hour required course to activate their learners permit with a professional instructor in automatics

First we went to the highschool parking lot on a weekend and I taught them how to use a stick. We used my 91 VW passat. I think its important to have an early driving experience with a stick. After they were comfortable getting from a stop to moving in first gear, I drove to nearby underconstruction devolpments, wide roads, no traffic and no pedestrians. Here they learned to move through all the gears going up and down. After they were comfortable we went driving in quite neigborhoods, into busier streets, onto country highways and finally the freeway. We also went to a hilly area, so they could learn to slip the clutch. And I taught them to parallel park, with garbage cans in front of our house.

Both my kids love driving and are now good drivers. No tickets. My daugher has had one single car accident. She lost control in a curve on a wet road and hit a tree.

After my son had been driving about one year, he took a one day performance driving class given through SCCA (sports car club of America) It was a package deal. The next day he got to compete. The course was just a huge parking lot marked off with cones. He was 17 and the other novice drivers were 30s to 60s. He came in 18th of 30. This course has helped him avoid two accidents that I know of where his skills let him get out of the way of an overly aggressive dangerous nut and an old man who got confused about were he was going.

I think the SCCA course might have saved my daughter from hitting that tree.

If your son wants to take a course after he has some experience, it would be valuable.

 

Thanks Chaz. Actually, after he gets some experience I intend to teach him to drive the S. Its not going to become his but I think he ought to know how to drive a stick, and how to adapt to various types of cars. I think the more, varied experience he gets, the better.

 

I taught all three of my children how to drive, twice each. First I taught them to drive an automatic car so they can pass the driving test (which they all did with their first try), then I immediately taught them how to drive a stick-shift. Today, they are all driving stick-shift cars, none of them care for automatic. I really enjoyed the experience because it allowed a 1-on-1 time that we can talk and bond, not just about driving, but about life in general.