Learning to drive is a fundamental building block in our lives. The things new drivers learn and the habits they develop (both good and bad) carry over to the rest of their driving lives, so instilling good habits in young drivers is essential for driving safety. That's just one of the reasons making sure your teen gets good driver education in Wichita, KS is so important.

"Don't drink alcohol and drive," and "Don't text and drive," may seem obvious, but never assume that young drivers know and understand these important concepts. Clear, direct instruction and emphasis on the potential consequences of such behaviors should be presented repeatedly, along with constant reinforcement of good habits. These essential truths must become ingrained.

Dangerous Distractions

Driving while distracted has proven to be dangerous. Every day people are killed or injured in automobile accidents that involve a distracted driver. A distraction is anything that takes your attention away from driving. There are three main types:

1.      Visual: you take your eyes off the road

2.      Manual: you take your hands of the steering wheel

3.      Cognitive: you take your mind off your driving

 

Talking on a cell phone, texting, eating, or using a navigation system can distract, endangering the driver, passengers, and others on the road. One of the reasons for all the discussion about texting is because it combines all three types of distraction. Taking your eyes off the road for 5 seconds is long enough for a car traveling at 55 mph to travel the length a football field.

No matter how good your teen's driver education course is, it's important that your child see you modeling the things they're being taught. Be sure that you're setting an example for good driving behavior. That means your young driver should never see you texting or talking on the phone while driving, driving aggressively, or engaging in other behaviors you wouldn't want them to mimic.

Always Buckle Up

A good driver's education program teaches the importance of developing the habit of always using a seat belt. Seat belts are the most significant safety device developed for automobiles. Statistics tell us that young drivers, particularly those 16 to 18 years of age, have the highest accident rates. Seat belts save lives in auto accidents, so make sure your teens develop the habit of buckling up right from the start.

Defensive Driving is Part of Driving

Defensive driving must be taught. You can help teach your teen to be a patient, courteous driver. Explain that there are just rude people in the world, but they shouldn't be one of them. Teach your young driver to take a deep breath and let the incident go if another driver fails to yield or cuts in front of them.

A good defensive driving education teaches teens to maintain awareness of other drivers and their surroundings. They learn to watch for brake lights, hazard lights, and turn signals, to instantly recognize when a vehicle is slowing in front of them, and to check mirrors regularly and recognize if they need to speed up or change lanes.  Defensive driving instruction teaches them to anticipate problems.

You may not be able to protect your teen from every incident, but you can prepare them to react safely when they happen by enrolling them in a good program in driver education in Wichita, KS. For the best driver education in Wichita, call Legacy Driving School in Andover at (316) 733-2537.