Teach Your Teen These Skills Behind the Wheel

Help your teen become a better, more confident driver.  

As a parent, you’re responsible for helping your teen get the guidance and training they need when they have their learners permit. While the professional driving instructor will be teaching them the basics and rules of the road, you, as a parent, can help your teen gain confidence behind the wheel.

Below are some important skills teens must develop, and how you can help them become a better, safer driver.

Inclement Weather

Vehicles react differently on wet roads than they do on dry roads. Parents should take their teens out in varying types of weather so that the child can develop critical skills to help them stay safe in every type of weather. Reinforce the importance of safe stopping distances on wet roads and when visibility is poor.

Practice Gap Awareness

Making turns is a difficult skill to master, even for some adults. Maintaining a safe following distance is a skill that only develops with time and practice. Teens need plenty of practice gauging how long it takes to safely make a turn and how much distance they should keep between their vehicle and the car in front.

Friends Can Be Fatal

Riding with or carrying teen passengers is particularly dangerous for teen drivers, because peers can be wholly distracting. Even one teen passenger can increase a teen driver’s crash risk by as much as 48 percent. Set a rule that teens shouldn’t drive their friends unsupervised in the beginning until they gain more confidence on the roads.

In addition to teaching your teen valuable skills, secure the necessary protection. Auto insurance can protect your teen, vehicle, and wallet. Visit the team of experts at Lou Aggetta Insurance Services in Pleasant Hill to get started on your tailored policy.