9 skills young drivers should practise

A QuoteMe.ie Guide: 9 Skills that your Young

Drivers Should be Practising

Seat Belts

Make sure your young driver always fastens his or her seatbelt and checks to make sure that passengers do too. Teenagers are least

likely to wear seat belts. Most teenagers killed in car accidents are not wearing

safety belts.

Encourage your teenager to regularly look far down the road, then closer in and then through mirrors. Teach your teenager to identify and avoid

potentially reckless drivers and hazards on the road

Scan the road ahead

Observe how your teenager manages speed and determine if he or she sees and responds to speed limit signs. Point out how to adjust speed to the situation.

Weather, traffic, hazards and experience factor into a safe driving speed.

PassengerMaintenanc

eWatch how your

teenager focuses on driving with family in

the car.

Passengers, and the distractions the

represent, can be deadly.

The propensity to crash increases with

even one teenage passenger.

Consider allowing no teenage passengers

for the first six months of driving after passing

the driving test.

Hazard Detection and Response

Help your teenager anticipate the

actions of other drivers.

Drivers have three seconds to respond to a hazard; one to recognise and two

to react.

Ask your teenager to point out risky

situations and discuss how to

avoid the dangers.

Mobile Phone Management

Be sure your teenager routinely turns off and puts away any mobile phone before starting the car. If your teenager needs to make a call, he or she should pull over and stop for the duration of the call.

Night D

riving

Watch how your teenager adjusts to night driving.

Fatal crashes are more likely at night than during the day.

Continue to practice with your teenager and consider banning unsupervised night driving for the first six months of licenses driving.

Keeping their Distance from the vehicle in front

Encourage your teenager to keep a minimum three-second distance between his or her car and the car in front. Instruct them to watch the rear bumper of the car in front pass an object. Then ask him to count out loud for three to four seconds before his or her car passes the same object.

Avoiding Distractions

Encourage your teenager to fully concentrate on driving. Ask him or her to avoid activities that take the focus off the road,

including eating, drinking, reaching for an object, reading billboards or adjusting/programming electronics.

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