David Lock

My 18 year old daughter passed her driving test today at second attempt. I was worried enough when I was in the car with her driving but now she is free on her own the thought of her negotiating turns into fast roads etc really does make me nervous. Of course I expect the odd dent may arise in a car park or whatever but she still has so much to learn and that only comes from experience. I will get her on the PassPlus but anyone been in this situation and what controls did you try and exercise? David

SiPie

David

There is nothing you can do I'm afraid.

You've given her the best of your knowledge I presume and other than that she just has to find out herself.

The plus points are that she's less likely now to be a passenger in some idiot's maxed up Nova now that she can drive herself (providing she has the use of a car) and she's a girl which statistically shows her to be a safer driver at 18 than if you were currently worrying about an 18 year old son !!!!!

Adavanced driving course perhaps ??

Cheers
Si

davegtt

let her grow up and learn by herself now, all thats possible to make her safer etc is experience, driving lessons dont learn u to drive unfortunately, its all about experience

Im sure you had to learn on your own at some point

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

For the next few months she'll be offering lifts to everyone - any excuse to drive basically. I suggest you request a lift to and from the pub as much as poss - then you can assess how her driving is coming on.

Brendan Hughes

Congratulations to her!

Speaking from experience with my wife (passed 6 mths ago), and assuming its your not her car;

let her drive everywhere when you are both going somewhere, so she gets maximum road experience. Keep your mouth SHUT until the end of the journey (unless imminent accident).

See if you can see the same mistake frequently (eg following too close), then tell her about it at end of journey, that she is in a bad habit and shouldn't be. Also WHY it is dangerous.

Grit teeth and ignore non-dangerous errors. Jerking gears or stalling on hill-starts is teeth-grating, but not likely to result in an accident, which is presumably what you want to minimise. Criticise everything at once and you won't be popular!

Hope this isn't teaching egg-sucking.

Good luck!

David Lock

Thanks all, yep will just have to grin and bear it. Jay - funnily enough I wrote "want a lift to Kings Head dad?" on her congratulations card which was my old local

My son he'll be 17 next Jan so I will be completely out of it by then!

When I passed the test ahem some years ago there was far less traffic and nightmares like the M25 didn't exist so I do think it's tougher for kids nowadays. David

Also thanks Brendan - didn't see your post before this reply. Some sound ideas. Might get some Internet Valium just in case

ScoobywagonGl

You can't do anything she can only learn by her mistakes as and when or even if they arise! you've just got to let her get on with it!
Congratulations to your daughter
just let her get on with it and maybe she will prove you wrong and become an ace driver without any accidents

ScoobywagonGl

Alternatively you could book her into a rall course as powered by the google adds at the bottom of the page! lol

sorry just humoured me

Oh and as for the pass plus i believe this only really give you a bit of extra experience ie motorway driving which she will learn in her own time! i passed my test and that night ventured out onto the motorway bit scary but after first time there was no stopping me

Scooby96

Tis indeed scarey ****tttt - I have a good 13 years left to worry about that, and by then hopefully we'll ALL be in GPS remote controlled cars with 30zillion air bags, the thought of my eldest driving

Edited to add:

When I was learning my dad used to take me out, then fall asleep within 10 minutes - luckily I was driving!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

God know what my mum thought as I went out in my MK1 Capri with the wheels spinning, just make sure she has a safe car (i.e. not a Metro) and keep an eye on the maintenance because at the risk of being sexist women, especially young ones rarely do.

Brendan Hughes

David, my principle was "what happens if I'm not there?" Hence, keep your mouth shut, and concentrate on tips for accident avoidance. You can do the picky bits later. We do a lot of motorway/dual carriageway driving, and she had some problems changing lanes, often not seeing a car in the next lane and almost moving into it. The one that still gets my goat is, if she sees someone by the side of the road / moving into her lane, she automatically swings out, rather than slowing down or having the confidence to blast the horn. I've told her this will quite simply kill her if she swings out with a car coming the other way.

In 6 months she's scratched the plastic round the wheel arch (I don't GAS, it's cosmetic), and hit a kerb at 30mph (potentially bad but we do have big tyres). But it fell to me, with 17 years experience, to T-bone the Renault 5 and cause 6000 euros of damage to the front of the car...

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I'm going through this at the mo with my 18 year old lad. He comes home at all hours and I can't rest until I know he's safe.:


Alcazar