Exactly How Will A Defensive Driving Course Help A Teenager?
A course in defensive driving, while not mandatory by law, is a MUST for your teen. As they make the exciting journey from passenger to driver, your child will face the very same dangers on the streets as you do -- and you know it requires a fair degree of skill to negotiate the hazards that any excursion can throw at you. By encouraging them to take a defensive driving course, your teen will start their driving career equipped with the skills to recognise and avoid these hazards. As you try and convince your teenage driver to take a program, you can use the following reasons to strengthen your own argument.
Get Your Licence Sooner
If your adolescent completes a defensive driving course, they're rewarded with a six month decrease in their restricted licence period. What an incentive! This is the obvious place to begin as you urge them to enrol in a course. This significant carrot might be the only reason they do the course, but as long as they're learning to manage risks and avoid dangerous situations, does it really matter? https://www.thefreedictionary.com/defensive driving Of course, the challenge for you as a parent is to ensure they continue to apply what they learn, and you may do this as a passenger. So you can check their driving is defensive driving, why not do a course yourself? Any time is a good time to improve your driving ability, and since you monitor your child's progress behind the wheel, you should really be able to practice what you preach. Check out our advanced defensive driving classes for experienced drivers.
Risk Management
Our defensive driving courses are run through an organisation called Streettalk. The sessions are intense and interactive, with theoretical and practical elements involved. The course will teach your teen how to recognise risks on the road, and how to prevent them. Excessive speed, a failure to induce into the prevailing conditions and reckless overtaking are regular contributors to our appalling road toll. These issues and more will be covered in the course, and by being aware of them, your child can not help but be a safer driver.
A Course In Defensive Driving Is A Wise Move
Young motorists lack "driving intelligence". They are short on experience. As they revel in their liberty, they're not lacking in enthusiasm. This youthful exuberance is often manifested in displays of excessive speed or foolish stunts while they are behind the wheel, often in an effort to show off to their mates. Boys will be boys -- and girls will be girls -- but a defensive driving class will at least show them the consequences of their activities, and get them into the habit of actually thinking while they drive. They won't become an experienced driver overnight but they will become a smarter driver.
Your Peace Of Mind
Young drivers are involved in more road accidents than anybody else. Young drivers are more likely to die or be hurt in a serious injury crash. In 2011, drivers aged 15-24 were involved in 80 fatal crashes, with primary responsibility for 71 of these. Obviously, these facts and figures are swirling around your head as you see your teenage child learn to drive. This is an exciting time for them, and a worrying time for you. To alleviate your anxiety, and to enhance their driving skills and safety, you should encourage your child to book a few lessons with a qualified driving instructor and to enrol in a course in defensive driving. It is the best possible driver education your adolescent can get, and much needed peace of mind for you!