Ouch!

[mjarrels]

My Daughter (age 15) just received her drivers license (leaners)... Wife says I need to teach her to drive... She won't drive a tractor, doesn't have a clue which way the front wheels are turned... just clue less on how to drive? HELP... I want to let my son (age 20) to teach her... he is good (I tought him)

mark

 

[TedLaRue]

Patience and compliments.

Did I mention patience?

They may do nine things out of ten wrong, so you have to have patience during the nine things, and then offer up plenty of compliments on that 10th thing. If you get frustrated and show it, you'll kill their confidence, and it's only downhill after that.

And humor helps a lot, too. For example (to quote from a Woody Allen film), when parallel parking, "That's good. We can just walk to the curb from here.". Or, "That white line marks the right edge of the road, not the center." The humor probably helps you more than the learner.

I've taught both of my daughters and three of my international students to drive (manual shift, no less!). All passed the exam the first time. That's a bit of a reward.

 

[schmism]

find a 1970's VW bettle?

manual stearing, which will have good toein = good return to center if you let go of the wheel.

manual breaks.

small easy to maneuver, light weight, wont go fast, doesnt accelerate fast, everything you need for a starter car. (note there are a lot of cheep 80's cars that fall into this category)

or

sign up for your local street survival school, as having participated in our local chapters for the past 3 years, its a great program. Street Survival - Teaching Your Teen Driver to Survive From Behind the Wheel

 

[Skyco]

Might be worth it to hire a driving training pro to teach her. Lots of times it needs to be someone not in the family to teach, particularly if she's as clueless as you say, no offense intended. Does her high school not offer driver training?

 

[Red55]

Just took my nephew driving- my sister-in-law is a little nuts, so I felt sorry for the kid. Scared the me half to death on the way home cause he decided to do some off-roading on a turn. Told him nice recovery and realized I couldn't go home just after a near miss with a tree! When we were on a long and straight stretch of road I asked if he saw that no cars were coming from the other direction and then asked him to look out his window and tell me how close he was to the double yellow line. A few feet away was his response. Explained to him that he should feel like he is on the line with the edge of the tires. No more Off-roading -Ed

 

[MrWoodChips]

When we were on a long and straight stretch of road I asked if he saw that no cars were coming from the other direction and then asked him to look out his window and tell me how close he was to the double yellow line. A few feet away was his response. Explained to him that he should feel like he is on the line with the edge of the tires. No more Off-roading -Ed

When I taught my younger brother to drive, I took him to an empty parking lot and had him try to hit small objects (a piece of gravel, just large enough to hear/feel when he ran over it) with his left or right tires as he was driving along. This to give him some experience as to where his tires were as he drove. Useful for parallel parking, as well as staying on the road.

John

 

[ToadHill]

When my oldest daughter started driving she was full of confidence. "This is easy, I've seen you and mom do it for years." My wife took her out and within 20 minutes I got a phone call she had put the car in a ditch and it was sitting at about a 45 degree angle.

Had a local farmer tow them out and they came home with the drivers side all scratched up and dented. It was 2 months before she wanted to get behind the wheel again and to this day she only drives if she has to. That was 20 years ago.

 

[chh]

Find a large open parking lot or open field for the first lesson. The less there is to hit the better. Don't worry she is a teenager and after 4 or 5 tries she will know more than you do. By the time my kids were this age they had all been driving p/u's in the pasture and tractors for quite awhile. It sure made lessons driving on the road a lot easier. There still was a scary moment or two but no major vehicle damage.

 

[Egon]

As mentioned, go with an accredited driving school.

It will also help on the insurance.

 

[riptides]

Wow!


I'd start on the tractor just to get her oriented on which way to turn. I'd say a big field will help you deal with the stress level of watching her aquire the skills.

Good luck.