Tips for Teaching Your Teen to Drive

Once your teenager turns seventeen, they will legally be able to begin learning to drive. Once they’ve applied for and received their provisional driving license, they’ll probably want to get behind the wheel and one step forwards to independence as soon as possible. Many parents choose to teach their teen to drive as not only is it less of a nerve-wracking experience for the learner, it can also be much cheaper than paying for professional driving tuition. If you’re considering teaching your teenager to drive a car and eventually pass their driving test, we’ve got some top tips to help you make sure it’s a success.

Learn Theory First

Taking your teen out driving on the roads when they know little about the highway code, road signs and road markings can be a scary experience. Although you’ll probably be looking out for signs for them whilst you take them on driving lessons, making sure that your teen passes their driving theory test before they start learning to drive with you can help make sure that they are a safer and more confident driver. You can find driving theory test learning materials available for free at Top Tests.

Professional Driving Instruction

Although you can definitely teach your teen the basics of driving by yourself, it’s a good idea to consider paying for them to have some hours with a professional driving instructor as well. This is because as a driver, you may have picked up some bad habits along the years which you could pass on to your teen during driving lessons, hindering their ability to pass their driving test. Allowing them to have a few lessons with a driving instructor as well will ensure that you’ve been teaching them well.

Safety First

When teaching your teen to drive, you really are putting your life in their hands. Making sure that safety is a priority is absolutely important when you take your teenager out on the road for a driving lesson. Making sure that you purchase and display clear signs stating that the driver is a learner on your car is vital to ensure that other road users have patience if anything goes wrong.

Insurance

Before you start teaching your teen to drive, you must make sure that they are insured on the car. Whether you’re teaching them in your own car or have bought them a car for themselves, failing to ensure that they have the proper insurance is against the law. If your teen is to be learning to drive in their own car, they can get provisional insurance on it from many companies, allowing them to drive the car only when they have a person who is over the age of 21 and has held a driving licence for three years as their passenger.

Teaching your teen to drive yourself can be a great way to save money and help them to get as much driving practice as possible. However, learning to drive properly is important, so it’s vital to be prepared.