Remerciez-le!

Remerciez @Admin pour avoir partagé cet document gratuitement, de la manière la plus simple, en partageant sur les réseaux sociaux.

Learning to Drive A Guide for Parents Courtesy of Drivers.com Courtesy of Drive

Learning to Drive A Guide for Parents Courtesy of Drivers.com Courtesy of Drivers.com Courtesy of Drivers.com What’s involved for you, the parent Learning to drive is a major turning point in the lives of teenagers and their parents. Getting a driver’s license is one of the important rites of passage to adulthood for the young, new driver – and it’s certainly a dangerous one. A wise parent will seek the help of reliable professionals in preparing the teen for the complex world of the automobile and traffic. It’s not enough for today’s teenagers to learn like their parents did. The driving world they enter is far too intense to tackle without serious preparation. The cost of driving, the risks, the pressures all speak to the need for a well- trained and educated driver. It’s not enough just to get by any more. Driving is not something to learn by trial and error. It involves skill, knowledge, and above all, habits that need to be carefully shaped. As a parent, you are the one who cares the most about your teenager’s driving ability and safety. This booklet is designed to help you participate in the process of educating your teenager behind the wheel. It will give you insights into the skills and knowledge that the best professional instructors have accumulated over years of teaching. It will inform you about the pitfalls lying in wait for the amateur instructor during the early stages of learning, about the defensive strategies taught in modern driving courses, and about the need to follow up after licensing and ensure that your teen continues to develop defensive driving skills and safe habits. Remember, getting a driver’s license is not the end of learning to drive. The first six months after licensing are critical to the shaping of safe habits, and these, along with attitudes, are far more important than a high degree of knowledge or skill. 4 Learning to Drive Courtesy of Drivers.com Going on the road Many a tragic accident has resulted from parents unwittingly allowing their teens to get into driving situations for which they were not properly prepared. Often, the beginner appears confident and in control but in reality is simply getting by – as long as nothing unusual happens. A sudden change in conditions could easily cause panic. The skilled professional driving instructor learns to anticipate such problems and knows how to deal with them. An inexperienced co-driver such as a parent or a friend can easily be caught unawares, with potentially disastrous consequences. If possible, leave your teen’s first on-the-road experience to the care of a professional. Experience, know-how and dual controls make a big difference, and it’s nice to get off to a good start. Passing the driving test Driver examiners want license applicants to show that they know the rules, have reasonable control over the car, and can follow the correct procedures when carrying out basic maneuvers such as turns, lane changes, and parking. They don’t expect perfect performance, and they know that beginners will be nervous, but they do expect them to be able to “read” the roadway environment (signs, signals, and pavement markings) and relate to traffic. Remember, the government road test only covers basic driving situations. Passing it doesn’t make a driver safe or competent in dealing with all the different driving situations he or she will meet in a lifetime of driving. A Guide For Parents 5 Courtesy of Drivers.com Defensive driving techniques Being a good defensive driver means more than just being cautious. And mere experience isn’t enough either. The good defensive driver has to WORK at developing good driving techniques. The following is a summary of the defensive driving concepts commonly covered in driver education courses. You can read more about these techniques in your teen’s driver education textbook. Managing Space and Time This concept is critical to defensive driving. The driver must have space to maneuver and time to react. The following time rules help the novice to compensate for inexperience and are invaluable in reducing risk in traffic. The 2-second rule This provides safe spacing when following another car at any speed. By noting when a car ahead of you passes a fixed point and counting your time to reach that point, you can determine whether your spacing is safe. Two seconds (count “one thousand and one, one thousand and two”) is the minimum safe space. This should be practiced from the passenger seat! The beginner will then develop a “sense” of what a safe space is at different speeds. The 4-second stopping rule This is an approximate guide to stopping distance at speeds over 40 mph. Choose a fixed point on the roadway ahead and count the seconds until you get there. If you count four seconds, that point indicated your minimum stopping distance. The 12-second visual lead time Ideally, the defensive driver is anticipating traffic movements and potential hazards as far away as the point the car will reach in twelve seconds. Within this distance, the driver should scan the scene, including the sidewalks, and make adjustments to speed and position as necessary. 6 Learning to Drive Courtesy of Drivers.com The Smith System The Smith System provides five rules for training the eyes to see what is important in driving. They are: 1. Aim high (to steer accurately and anticipate problems) 2. Keep your eyes moving (avoid fixed stare, stay alert) 3. Get the big picture (don’t allow your eyes to be drawn to one area) 4. Leave yourself an “out” (practice the “what if” game) 5. Make sure they see you (when there’s conflict for space, make eye contact with the other driver). These rules sound simple but it takes considerable practice to develop the habit of using them at all times in traffic. Using the Smith System, the driver always tries to keep “space for the car and visibility for the driver”. These two strategies allow the driver to use the five rules most effectively, always having time to scan the scene around the car and adjust speed and position to minimize hazards. The I.P .D.E. System (Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute) Some programs use this 4-step process to help drivers organize their thinking when making decisions in traffic. With it go the concepts of: Isolating Keeping space between your car and potential problems Stabilizing Avoiding sudden changes in speed or direction Separating Avoiding having to deal with many problems at once Compromising Reducing conflicts for space and avoiding “pressure” in traffic situations. The Ground Viewing Habit Drivers judge the speed and direction of other vehicles by relating to the ground around them. If the car ahead in the lane next to you, for example, begins to move over into your lane, you will detect this movement earlier by glancing or using your peripheral vision to relate its movement to the lane markings. The ground viewing habit is also useful in detecting the feet of pedestrians behind parked cars. A Guide For Parents 7 Courtesy of Drivers.com Road Commentary Driving This technique is used with more advanced drivers. The driver is asked to do a running commentary on what hazards or factors he or she is taking into account while driving. (“Car turning left ahead”, “approaching crosswalk”, “car overtaking in the left lane”, etc.) This is an excellent technique for improving seeing habits and making drivers more aware of how much they can see if they work at improving visual habits. However, it takes practice to apply this technique effectively. It’s best to start off with one or two items such as crosswalks or speed limit signs. Attitude Attitude determines how knowledge and skills will be used. It determines whether a driver will be cooperative or competitive in traffic, whether he or she will accept a high level of risk or put into practice the concepts taught on defensive driving courses. It is the single most important element in defensive driving and the most difficult one to influence. Some driver education programs use the concept of Parent, Child, and Adult attitude states to help drivers identify and control attitudes that affect their driving behavior. These attitude states are expressions of personality. The ‘parent’ state is caring, protective, but also critical and punishing. It imitates how parents relate to children. The ‘child’ attitude state is freely expressive, impulsive, and reacts to events in a naive way. The ‘adult’ state is the thinking, reasoning one that asks questions and tries to select the best behavior. 8 Learning to Drive Courtesy of Drivers.com Conducting Practice Sessions Planning It’s important to plan practice sessions, particularly the early ones. Decide where to go and what you are going to do before setting out. Take some care in selecting a suitable area. The introduction to the car might be done in the driveway. This should be thorough. Don’t assume anything. First attempts at controlling the car should be made in an area where the learner can concentrate on the response of the machine to the uploads/Litterature/ ltd-guide.pdf