My 16yo daughter is learning how to drive and it’s been terrific to watch how quickly she’s taken to the wheel. I basically have her drive everywhere and the first time we were in the car I just tossed her the keys and said “go for it”. Her Mom, by contrast, is apparently quite a bit more cautious and she was shocked that I’d let A- drive all over town, including on some roads with 55mph speed limits.
My take is that it’s kind of like learning how to swim: Just jump in and go for it.
Which isn’t to say that I am not paying close attention and constantly commenting on safety aspects, safe following distances, how to nagivate complex intersections, and once or twice yelling “stop! did you see that bicylist?” 🙂 So far, she’s really only been driving for less than a month and I’m astonished at what a good, safe driver she is. Her biggest challenge: Staying 100% focused on driving, even if there’s a conversation going on in the car or someone says “ooh, cool, look at that”. But that’s a learned behavior so we’re doing just fine.
Today it’s raining. In fact, here’s the weather forecast:
Still, you can’t just drive on days with perfect weather, so she’s driving in the rain, with the slick roads, and as we’re going along I’m asking her to tell me what she thinks changes about driving in this sort of wet conditions, and encouraging her to keep a greater follow distance.
Fortunately, I know that we have new all weather tires on the car so worst case if she has to stand on the brakes to avoid hitting someone — not a great strategy in the rain, but I’m always anticipating — then at least I know we’re safe.
Which ties in very nicely to the Hankook Tire campaign that I’m participating in as we move into fall weather too, a campaign to remind everyone that as we move into wetter road conditions and, all too soon, snow and ice, there’s nothing more important for your own safety than top quality tires.
And my daughter staying focused on her driving. 🙂
Before your holiday schedule gets crazy, take care of your car now – especially your tires. Save with Hankook Tire’s Great Hit Rebate, $80 off a set of 4 Ventus S1 noble2 tires.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hankook Tires. The opinions and text are all mine.