Parental Advice

[Angus]

My daughter is 17 and has started driving lessons. Once she's had a few lessons and is reasonably confident, my wife and I will take her out for extra practice.

Beyond driving from a to b, what should we be concentrating on, and what "advanced" features should we not pass on (yet)?

[kfae8959]

You know her and we don't, so I guess you're best placed to assess what she needs. The only reason I can think of to withhold "advanced" stuff is that it might conflict with what her instructor directs - positioning, for example - or get in the way of the teaching methods she uses. Neurologists suggest that we are less well equipped to judge risk at 17 than we will be a few years later, so perhaps some serious focus on risk assessment might be helpful?

David

[Angus]

Sorry, I should have clarified that I meant to help her towards the test. I was aware that some examiners may dislike novice drivers positioning toward the centre of the road, but the risk assessment suggestion is useful.

[Stephen]

Angus= I learned my lad who at the time was 17yrs old I taught him from start to finish only had 1hr with an ADI to see if I was teaching him correct and that he was ready for test.

I downloaded the sheets from the DSA website and followed the syllabus in them,I hired a dual control car for him for the first 6 lessons and once I thought he was confident and could be trusted i moved onto our family car.

I taught him advanced from the begining but did not emphasise corners and bend technique only that he should adopt a nearside and offside position on approach to right and left hand bends.

If I was you ask the instructor what they have covered and any further work/practise that is needed which you and your wife can cover with her,but make sure that you are passing on the right info making sure that you do not confuse or contradict what her instructor is teaching her unless you know that it is wrong.

My lad passed 1st time with two faults and they were on all round observation on maneouvres,which if I am honest maneouvres were not my strong point as my car did not have any reference points to concentrate on,good luck and keep us informed it is not easy i hiope that you have got lots of patients.
Stephen

[ROG]

My daughter is 17 and has started driving lessons. Once she's had a few lessons and is reasonably confident, my wife and I will take her out for extra practice.

Best advice - talk to her driving instructor and do what the instructor suggests.

Post DSA test - start AD training

[GJD]

My daughter is 17 and has started driving lessons. Once she's had a few lessons and is reasonably confident, my wife and I will take her out for extra practice.

Best advice - talk to her driving instructor and do what the instructor suggests.

Or perhaps consider sitting in on a lesson if you, your daughter and her instructor are happy with that?

[Russ_H]

My daughter is 17 and has started driving lessons. Once she's had a few lessons and is reasonably confident, my wife and I will take her out for extra practice.

Beyond driving from a to b, what should we be concentrating on, and what "advanced" features should we not pass on (yet)?

I spent many years as an examiner. On the whole, candidates who had extra practice were considerably
better than those who only had lessons with an ADI. This is not meant to knock instructors.

On a driving test, the difference was most marked when an unusual event occurred. The lesson-only
candidate often struggled to cope, but the extra-practice candidate could draw upon their greater
experience. I would suggest, therefore, that she does as much driving with you as possible. Try not to
change the style that her ADI is teaching her; simply be a facilitator of extra practice.

More specifically, manoeuvring has historically been a weak spot for many candidates, so it would do
no harm at to cover this aspect thoroughly. Examiners expect good all round observation throughout
manoeuvres.

Depending upon where you are, it may not be possible for the ADI to reach certain types of road during
a normal lesson, so that would be a good topic to cover during practice sessions.

If you are going to take her on twisty roads, avoid exaggerated positioning. Stick to the advice in DSA's
manual - well to the left for right hand bends, and no wider than a normal position for left hand bends.

Regards,

Russ

[Gareth]

Thinking back both to my time as a learner and to when there were young learners in our family, and following on from Russ' comments, I strongly agree that experience is probably the best you can give her. It's tricky to avoid clashing with the ADI if you're trying to teach her as well, so perhaps try to avoid teaching but let her get as much car time as possible is the way forward.

[daz6215]

Angus try buying DSA "Driving the essential skills" there's some good advice in there we could all do with refreshing on!

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Pp7L ... &q&f=false

[fungus]

I would add be carefull where there are hatched markings that are bordered by broken lines. We all know that we treat hatchings bordered by solid lines like any other solid line. However those with broken lines are essentially like any other hazard line, and whilst it is perfectly legal to cross them if it's safe, some examiners in Bournemouth take a dim view of any candidate who so much as clips them. Having said that, the Bournemouth test centre manager did clarify the position with regards to a mini roundabout localy with two ahead lanes (no right turn on this one). He said that since the highways dept. painted hatchings around it, you are virtually forced to go through them if you are using the R/H lane, which you would if you were turning right at the traffic lights just beyond and another vehicle is also going ahead in the L/H lane. I would also add no straight lining of roundabouts, even if there are no lanes marked.

[Angus]

Well, she passed! Allbeit at the second attempt but with only 2 minors (one mirrors, one manoeuvres)

Now to persuade her to take an advanced test before her 18th in October.