But Seriously

Monkey See. Monkey Do?

In an earlier post, I gave a link to a "how to" video I am in.  Back in April, 2008, I had the priviledge of working with Producer, Jeff Ravage, to make a video for Monkeysee.com to show how to pass a driving skills test.

At 6 months on the web, the video now has over 26,000 views and is frequently included in Monkeysee's featured videos for Auto & Mechanical topics.  You may view the video by clicking here.  Please feel free to leave a comment.

Trouble in Texas

A concerned father recently asked me about driver education standards in Texas.  As a driver education professional, I have advocated for extensive experience in the car for all new drivers.  50 hours of supervised driving has become the gold standard over most of the nation.  Texas only requires 14 hours and half of those are observation.  My answer to the dad about the disparity involved a bit of a history lesson that I would like to share with you. 

In 1996, Representative Charlie Howard of Sugarland, Texas, carried Senate Bill 964 through the house of representatives to allow parents to teach their teens to drive.  This revolutionary bill would provide for structured, state approved curriculums for use by parents to oversee the most dangerous subject they will learn in their high school years.  Representative Howard asked the National Driver Training Institute (NDTI) to testify in favor of the bill using their program, Help for the Teenager Who Wants to Drive as an example.  The bill passed in 1996 and Parent-Taught Driver Education (PTDE) became an active part of the educational landscape in 1997.

The Texas Department of Public Safety was charged with the administration of the bill.  The DPS would provide a low cost curriculum to set the standard for PTDE and would approve 3rd party curriculums as well.  The DPS model curriculum (course 101) was designed around the same standards that local driving schools use:  32 class hours and 14 hours in a car (7 driving and 7 observation). 

An aside:  I could devote an entire post to the falicy of observational driving hours.  I will limit myself in this post to simply say that no other credible skills development program encourages the observation of novices.  For observation time to be meaningful, it needs to require the observation of experts--and driver education today does not do that.  Observation time is simply a money saving shortcut for driving schools.

The 7 hours of driving is more a "lucky" number than a "magic" number.  While it is enough to teach the basics of controling a vehicle, it is not adequate.  In this case, it is appropriate to quote Alexander Pope An Essay on Criticism, 1709, "a little learning is a dangerous thing. . ."  New drivers need extensive experience to develop safe driving habits.

At the time of the bill passage, a Texas teen pursuing a license needed to: be at least 16 years old, complete an approved driver education program, and hold a permit for at least two weeks.  Teens who completed an approved driver education program could (and still may) waive the driving skills test with a state trooper.  NDTI's program, course 102, met the Texas standard of 32 class hours, but pushed beyond the 14 hour driving standard with a requirement of 50 hours of parent supervised driving.  Although many parents were upset about the additional requirement, once they found out the reason behind it, they were in agreement.  New drivers with too little experience do have collisions that result in fatalities or serious injuries.  New drivers with extensive experience have a much lower liklihood of being in such collisions.

Although a popular competitive marketing approach led many schools to criticize the 50 hour requirement, the true value of the 50 hours would bear scrutiny and other parent taught programs, like course 103, would adopt these more stringent guidelines. 

The law, however, has not caught up.  Texas teens are still required to complete only 14 hours on the road before obtaining a permit, even though they now must hold the permit for at least 6 months.  Texas also still gives new drivers a pass on the driving skills test if they complete driver education.

In April of 2007, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a report on parent taught driving in Texas.  In it, they find a number of disturbing statistics and trends that reflect poorly on the process.  At the same time, they neglect to explain the deficient standards for behind-the-wheel experience and the process for waiving the test. 

Download parent-taught_driver_ed1.pdf

Lobbying groups and driver education associations such as ADTSEA and the National Safety Council are trying to use this report to discredit parent taught driver education around the nation.  But again, the problem is not with the parents (they actually become better drivers through refresher training) rather it is with the peculiarities of Texas law.  The National Safety Council is even going so far as to try to replace comprehensive driver education with a 4 hour lecture.  While these 4 hour lectures have their place, they can not replace comprehensive (30+ hour) driver education. 

PTDE is a process that works; and it works on the basis of extensive experience.  Shortcuts to the process are not only foolish, they are dangerous.

Radically Improve Gas Mileage

I recently saw a fantastic news article on Hypermiling.  Hypermiling is a driving technique that reduces gas consumption, radically improving gas mileage and saving money.  Here is a rundown of the steps:

1st:  Know your gas mileage.  Click this link for methods to calculate gas mileage.

2nd:  Identify and eliminate aggressive driving habits.  The bottom line: leave a 2-3 second following distance.  Most states require at least 2 seconds following distance, most safety institutions teach 3 seconds.

3rd:  Reduce your wait time at red lights.  Obviously you can't control how long a light stays red (wouldn't it be good if you could).  You can adjust your speed as you approach red, yellow, and stale green lights to make the most of your wait time.  Hypermiling.com offers this video:

4th:  Keep moving in traffic congestion.  Hypermiling.com recommends this excellent article on eliminating traffic waves.  The author, William Beatty, keys into one of the most profound

5th:  Accelerate Gently.  We use the most gas per mile when we accelerate. 

6th:  When appropriate, use cruise control to maximize your accelerating efficiency.

For complete details and links to news articles and videos, check the hypermiling website.

How to Pass a Driving Skills Test

We get a lot of requests for information about driving skills tests at the driver education school where I work.  To help answer those questions, we partnered up with director and videographer, Jeff Ravage, to produce a "How To" video on Monkeysee.com.  The video is presented in 8 segments.  Here is the first segment.  If the embedded "next video" function does not work for you, try this link.

Please feel free to leave comments here or on the Monkeysee.com site.

Also come visit me on my BlogCatalog page.

Using Your Eyes Effectively

Did you know that more people get in automobile collisions at controlled intersections than at uncontrolled intersections?  That’s right, more collisions occur at intersections with stop signs than without.  It is not because people fail to stop, at least not primarily.  Rather, the main cause of this disturbing statistic is that drivers fail to search the driving environment.  Strategic driving principles 4 and 5 involve searching.  Specifically, principle five says, “Use an aggressive search and scan technique to gather the necessary information needed to make safe and informed driver decisions.”

I say search rather than look because looking is passive.  You can look directly at something without recognizing it or thinking about it.  If you are a teen with parents or a parent of a teen, you have, no doubt, experienced a scenario where some one you know is looking for something that is right in front of them.  If you have driven in Colorado Springs more than once, you have most certainly encountered another driver who almost caused a collision because he or she was not paying attention to the driving environment.

Searching is active and involves both seeing details and thinking about them.  Seeing and Thinking: together they make a powerful defensive strategy you can use while driving.  To make this strategy even more effective, I am going to explain how you should search.  This is how I explain a good search pattern to my students:

Start by looking far ahead.  Look as far as you can see down your path of travel; ideally 12 to 30 seconds ahead.  Relate what you see to road, weather, and traffic conditions.  What does the road look like?  Do you see any road construction?  Is the weather changing or has it affected the road ahead?  What about traffic--is it heavy or light?  Are the drivers ahead of you applying their brakes? If they are, you certainly will be too.

Next, look near ahead.  This is the area 6 to 12 seconds in front of your vehicle.  While road and weather conditions are still important, in this zone, traffic (both vehicular and pedestrian) is your primary concern.  Is anyone near the roadway: joggers, dog walkers, children?  What about vehicles: bicycles, motorcycles, cars slowing,  turning, or parking on the side of the road?  Hazards you see in this zone are for immediate reaction--usually slowing down and moving left or right to give more space in your lane is sufficient.  Other possible actions could include flashing your hi-beams, honking your horn, stopping, changing lanes, or even speeding up in rare circumstances.

Be sure to look side-to-side as you approach side streets and through intersections.  A slight turn of the head and a quick glance down these streets will tell you if children are playing or if a vehicle is approaching too fast.  When you stop at a stop sign or traffic light, take a full second to look left, right, and left again for oncoming traffic or pedestrians.  Remember that pedestrians have the right-of-way at controlled intersections and crosswalks.  You must let them proceed at an intersection if they arrive before you.

Check behind your vehicle frequently, using both your inside and outside mirrors.  Just like when you check side to side, you are concerned with traffic conditions, not so much road and weather conditions.  Do you see heavy traffic?  Are any emergency vehicles approaching from behind?  What about motorcycles?  If you plan on making a lane change, traffic checks to the rear are especially important and need to be augmented with a turn of the head to check you blind spot.

Finally, establish a habit of periodically checking your dashboard.  Look at the speedometer and glance at your gauges. Are any of your warning lights illuminated?  I was taught to check my speed every 10 seconds.  I would pay more attention counting to 10 than I would to the driving environment.  Instead, I recommend that you develop a habit of checking your speed  every time you pass a road sign (like a speed limit sign) and every time you start to go down a hill.  This prepares you to adjust your speed when you see the current speed limit and when you will naturally gain speed on a down slope.

One more important point:  Every time you take your eyes off your path of travel (to look left-right-left or check your mirrors or dash board) be sure to bring your attention back to your path of travel immediately.  In other words don’t check your mirrors and your dashboard without checking your path of travel in between.

This month’s video is designed to show you the importance of scanning the driving environment, particularly on residential streets.  Check it out at:

www.USDriverTraining.com/DriverEdColumn7.php

As always, your questions and comments are welcome.  For more information about driver education or the National Driver Training Institute, please visit our website at www.NationalDriverTraining.com.

The First Fatal Second of a Collision

My Grandmother asked me to look up an article for her.  She had heard of a report that describes what happens in the first second of an automobile collision.  Figuring that I am a driver education instructor, she reasoned that it would be easier for me to find the article than her.

I remembered reading something and assured her that it would be an easy find.  After searching 30+ pages of Google results in news, web pages, and blogs, I finally found what I was looking for.  It was not an article, it was actually an excerpt from an episode of Dragnet:

I have taken notes and distilled the information in text for the reader's convenience.  This description occurs in the era of no seat belts.  Although we should be smarter now, many people still refuse to wear seat-belts.  Some use air bag technology as an excuse; remember that modern airbags are "supplementary restraint systems" and require the use of seat-belts to save lives.  If this does not convince you to wear a seat-belt, you should not get on the open road.

If a driver is not wearing a seat-belt, what happens in the first fatal second after a car traveling 55 mph hits a solid object?

In the first tenth of the second, the front bumper and grill collapse.

The second tenth finds the hood crumbling, rising, and striking the windshield as the spinning rear wheels lift from the ground.  Simultaneously, fenders begin wrapping themselves around the solid object.  Although the car's frame has been halted, the rest of the car is still going 55 miles per hour.  Instinct has caused the driver to stiffen his legs against the crash, so they snap at the knee joint.

During the third tenth of the second, the steering wheel starts to disintegrate and the steering column aims for the drivers chest.

The fourth tenth of the second finds two feet of the car's front end wrecked, while the rear end still moves at about 35 miles per hour.  The driver's body is still traveling 55 miles per hour.

In the fifth tenth of a second, the driver is impaled on the steering column and blood rushes into the lungs.

In the sixth tenth of the second, the impact has built up to the point that the driver's feet are ripped out of the tightly laced shoes.  The brake pedal breaks off.  The car frame buckles in the middle.  The driver's head smashes into the windshield as the rear wheels, still spinning, fall back to earth.

In the seventh tenth of the second, hinges rip loose, doors fly open, and the seats break free, striking the driver from behind.

The seat striking the driver and the three tenths of the second remaining mean nothing to the driver because he is already dead.

Becoming a Better Driver: Eliminating Distractions

As part of my job, I write a regular monthly column for a local community newspaper.  I also schedule these columns on a regular basis for "But Seriously".

Last month, I began to introduce to you some of the principles and practices of strategic driving. This month, I want to skip ahead and address one of the principles that factors in to a majority of minor traffic violations and a significant number of major violations we see on the road today. Let’s look at principle number 26:

DISTRACTED DRIVING

Distractions are everywhere, but here’s the bottom line, driving is a serious responsibility; it demands and deserves your full, undivided attention. Driver distractions or inattentive driving play a part in one out of every four motor vehicle crashes each year. That’s more than 1.5 million crashes a year. That’s 4,300 collisions each and every day!

My mother-in-law told me that the articles are a bit too wordy, so I am going to cut back on lecture and give you a simple activity to complete:

Which of the following acts have you engaged in, even once, while driving over the past 12 months?

_____ Tuning the radio or switching the stations while the vehicle is moving.

_____ Eating, drinking, or smoking while driving.

_____ Picking something up from the floor or between the seats when steering.

_____ Reading or writing.

_____ Reaching for something in the glove compartment.

_____ Talking on a cell phone, even if it is a hand-free model.

_____ Wiping the inside of the windshield.

_____ Arguing with another passenger.

_____ Combing or brushing your hair.

_____ Breaking up fights between children in the vehicle.

_____ Putting on makeup or checking your appearance in the mirror.

_____ Putting on contact lenses or using eye drops.

_____ Shaving.

_____ Filing, clipping, or polishing your nails.

_____ Kissing.

Now show this list to your spouse, children, parents, or other passengers and see if they agree with you. Aha, you’re busted.

If you checked any of the above (or if your passengers checked any of the above for you), you were driving while distracted and were at risk of being involved in a collision. Drivers inadvertently sometimes focus their attention away from the roadway, thus putting themselves and their families or other passengers in jeopardy.

How can a driver avoid being distracted while driving?

Strategic Driving Principle 26 says, "The driver of a motor vehicle should not be distracted by things such as cellular phone use, adjusting comfort/radio controls, distractions in work areas, looking at billboards, crashes involving other vehicles, and/or activities inside your vehicle while driving in traffic."

In other words, the task of driving is complex enough in and of itself that is should not be shared with any other task that will divert your attention. Where multitasking is praised in the workplace, it is frowned upon on the road.

The fact that you have driven with distractions before and not caused a collision only reinforces the negative behavior. As drivers, we tend to minimize the impact of our distracted driving on others but we see clearly when other distracted drivers impact our lives. Think of the last 5 times someone nearly hit you on the road. . . How many of those times could you tell that the driver was not paying attention to the driving environment. If you are like me, you could count back 10, 20, or 50 times and realize that all of them were distracted.

Now think back to the last time you waved an apology to another driver. Did you have to do so because you were distracted? Now you are seeing the picture.

If you are a part of the very small minority of drivers who stay focused on the driving task 100% of your driving time, please don’t feel insulted by me, instead, pass this on to one of your friends--you know, the one who is always smoking and talking on her cell phone while driving (my wife will be proud that I did not mention her name).

As is my custom, I have asked the webmaster to post a helpful video for you. This month the clip will address distractions while driving. Check it out here.

Next month, I will examine another principle of strategic driving. As always, your questions and comments are welcome. Just send an e-mail to me.

For more information about driver education or the National Driver Training Institute, please visit our website at www.NationalDriverTraining.com

New Methods in Driver Ed and Training

Driver education and training has been an industry for over fifty years. Curiously, while vehicles, roadways, and the challenges that drivers face have changed dramatically, the methodology behind teaching has not changed much. For instance, "old school" driver education separates class instruction and driver training by compressing 30 hours of study into 3 eight-hour days or 5 six-hour days. Upon completion of the 30 class hours, the student is allowed to begin in-car instruction. This is called the "block method" of instruction. The block method is easy and convenient for instructors as well as cost effective for schools. Unfortunately, this is more of an instance when the vendor’s shortcut carries no benefit for the consumer. Students in block method training tend to forget most of what is presented in class. Studies show that students will typically remember what time class ends, and that they need to wear long sleeves in case they drool when they fall asleep.

At the last National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Symposium on Driver Education, many experts agreed with Dr. Allen Williams of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, that the block method standards for driver education are antiquated and anachronistic for our modern driving environment. At the symposium, Mrs. Elizabeth Weaver, State director for driver education in Idaho, said this:

You know what? Many agree with Dr. Williams. We have been living with outdated, ineffective standards for way, way, way too long. We’ve all known that the traditional 30 hours of classroom, six hours behind the wheel over a short period of time is woefully inadequate to change the behavior or motivate safe driving behavior of our young teen drivers.

We advocate the "concurrent method" of instruction, where the student completes a section of class work then applies what was learned in the car before moving on to the next section of class work. This is similar to science lab in high school, but nobody gets sprayed in the face with acid.

Concurrent training works for the student because the class study and the practical exercises reinforce one another. The student gets a better grasp of both. The school, however, has a much greater challenge in scheduling.

We handle the scheduling difficulties by providing private in-car instruction. In addition to helping us schedule lessons appropriately, the student is given undivided attention and fewer distractions in the car. Without students in the back seat, no one falls asleep in the vehicle; and parents are encouraged to ride along and observe. On the rare occasion that the parent falls asleep, we exercise enough discretion not to use the brakes as a "stop snoring" solution.

When I was in the Army, we had a saying, "Train to standard, not to time." It is important for parents and teens to realize that safe driving does not just "happen" after a magic number of hours in the car. Safe driving behaviors must be practiced until they become safe driving habits. You can meet this benchmark in a number of ways. One option is to win the lottery so you can afford to pay a professional instructor to spend as much time as necessary with your new driver until the habits are developed. If you have not already noticed, let me tell you that the chances of winning the lottery are low enough that you may not want to rely on this plan for your own teenager, but instead for some future teenage grandchild. We take a different approach. Since the State of Colorado requires teen drivers to spend 50 hours driving under their parents supervision, we provide guidelines for parent-supervised driving. Since some teens (based on age and residence) must complete 6 hours of professional in-car instruction, we integrate the professional instruction into the plan for parent supervised driving. The results are safe, appropriately confident, appropriately cautious young drivers and parents who are aware and equipped to supervise their teen’s driving--even after licensing.

We also take the "train to standard" approach with our class instruction. In 1994, Help for the Teenager Who Wants to Drive premiered as the Nations first self-paced driver education course. The curriculum allows the teen to work through comprehensive instruction at a pace that allows for unrestricted review and maximum knowledge retention. Consequently, we do not impose an artificial timeline on the study phase of our program. Although the student must spend at least 30 hour working through the material, rigorous testing insures that students spend as much time as they need to truly understand the key concepts of safe driving. As my boss likes to say, "It’s not what they know, it’s what they don’t know that will injure or kill a new driver."

Our training methodology also relies on professional development: working with experts to enhance our expertise. In 2000, while most people were worried if Y2K would bring about WWIII, we teamed up with Dr. Charles McDaniel, a 47 year veteran of the war against teen driving fatalities. Dr. McDaniel has developed 32 principles of Strategic Driving. Over the course of the next year, I plan to introduce them to you. This month, we will look at the principles that govern the actions every driver should take while approaching the vehicle and preparing to drive.

As our community gets larger, we will see an increase in crimes related to robbery, car jacking, and home invasion. With that in mind, all drivers should work to incorporate principle #1 into their skill set. Principle 1 says, "When you approach your vehicle to enter, and when you exit your vehicle, you should make sure that your vehicle is locked. Allow me to unpack this principle, because it involves a lot more than pressing the lock button on your remote keyless entry, it’s about personal security.

As you approach your vehicle, scan your street or parking lot for anything unusual. When you notice someone or something out of the ordinary, take mental notes--what kind of vehicle, how many people, what kind of activity? You may assess the situation and decide to proceed to your vehicle at heightened awareness, or you may choose to go back inside and alert authorities if you encounter a threatening situation. If you choose to call in a suspicious activity, you will need those mental notes we talked about.

Let’s assume you did not see anything worth calling home about. As you near your car, you should check to see that it is still locked and you should look inside, under, and around it for anyone who is not where they should be. If there is a guy hiding in your back seat, you probably should not get in the front seat--or the back seat for that matter.

Most of the time, all will be clear. If so, get in your vehicle and lock your door. Once inside, start your engine, make any necessary seat or radio adjustments, and leave your parking space.

When exiting your vehicle, remember the 3-L’s: Look, Latch, Leave.

Look: Check your door mirror for traffic then look over your shoulder to check traffic again.

Latch: Use your left hand to pull the door latch and your right hand to push the door open. This positions your body to re-check traffic in the lane next to your vehicle.

Leave: Exit the vehicle quickly when it is safe to do so. Lock the doors and walk away facing traffic.

The bottom line is to be aware. Walking to your car while engrossed in a conversation on your cell phone is just not safe. Not that I suggest you wait to make your cell phone call once you leave your parking space. That’s not safe either. The last time you did that you almost hit me, so knock it off.

Where principle one focused on personal and vehicular security, principle two relates to vehicular reliability. Getting to your car does you no good if your car won’t start. Principle 2 says, "Regular automotive service and preventive maintenance can make the use of your motor vehicle less expensive, safer, and more enjoyable."

It is good to have confidence in your vehicle, but that confidence must be justified by routine preventive maintenance. A certain unnamed sister-in-law of mine once drove her parents SUV without any oil. Once the engine burned up, she discovered that it would not run anymore. If this result surprises you, please call, we have classes for people like you. I also have a video clip you can watch at:

www.USDriverTraining.com/DriverEdColumn4.php

As the owner or operator of a vehicle you should be familiar with the vehicle owner’s manual and the regular service schedule for the vehicle. Some maintenance steps should be carried out by the vehicle operator and others by a professional. Some operator maintenance tasks include daily checks and maintenance of fluid levels such as fuel, oil, and coolant. Other vital fluids (transmission fluid, brake fluid, and power steering fluid) and tire pressure should be checked weekly. Pay attention to gauges and listen for problems in your steering, braking, transmission and engine whenever you drive. Lights should be checked every time you drive. I could easily spend an entire class period discussing preventive maintenance (and I have) and I have never met a mechanic who was not happy to enlighten consumers to the importance of maintenance, so don’t be afraid to ask a professional for help.

Next month, I will examine some more principles and practices of strategic driving. As always, your questions and comments are welcome.

For more information about driver education or the National Driver Training Institute, please visit our website at www.NationalDriverTraining.com.

I'm Hit!

Last night, in the last hour and a half of work, someone hit my truck.  Whoever it was did not even leave a note.  The damage is just enough to cause a problem.  See, the truck is 14 years old and she has been used and abused.  SUV's come with notoriously high pricetags for body work -- typically 4 digits, and the truck is worth three to five thousand dollars according to Kelley Blue Book.  A body repair that costs half the value of the truck will not raise the value of the truck enough to justify the expense, but I am not happy to take on a new car payment.  I also hate the thought of my insurance rate going up because of a claim--that is, if I am covered for uninsured motorists.

Here is the damage:

Allow me to give a little background.  I work at a driving school next door to a "Stitchery".  The stitchery holds quilting classes and sewing classes and all manner of other related stichery services.  The customers may range in age from 13 to 120. 

It is winter in Colorado, so it now get's dark around 4:30 pm (thank you daylight savings time-but that's a different subject all together).

My suspicion is that a stitchery customer left the building after 5 and put her vehicle in "drive" instead of "reverse".  She probably looked behind her to see if the path was clear, and hit the gas--surging forward into the right front fender of my aged Explorer.  After crashing into my old truck, she probably got out to assess the damage and, being 97 years old, could not see any harm to my vehicle.  She then backed out and went home to make a delightful apple pie for her great-grandchildren.

I am having a little trouble getting mad at granny.  At the same time, I am having trouble not getting mad at the situation.  So what do you get out of this?  Allow me to explain what should have happened:

If you are in a collision with a parked car and you do not know who or where the owner is, you should leave a note on the car with your name and contact information as well as a description of the damage.  Leave the note in a conspicuous place, such as under the windshield wiper of on the driver side.  Next, call the police and explain what happened.  Having left your information for the owner and called the police yourself, you can not be accused of "hit and run".  Third, call your insurance company and explain the damage.  Your call will help your insurance company know what to expect when they examine the car so they don't end up paying for scratched paint on the other side of the vehicle. 

When the owner calls you, provide insurance information so the owner of the damaged vehicle can be compensated.

What if you are the victim, like me?  You have to decide if you want to claim the damage and see your insurance rate rise, ignore the damage because it does not affect your ability to use the car, or pay to fix the damage out of pocket.  In my case, my front bumper is damaged and my passenger door does not open easily.  My right-front tire also scrapes against the bent fender when I turn sharply to the left.  I am going to need to get this fixed. 

The Daunting Dilemma of Driver Training (Part 2)

Passing this subject could be the difference between life and death.

You may have figured out that I am re-posting some articles I have previously written regarding driver education.  The way the articles orginally panned out, I had mixed the winter driving tips with the second section of "Driver Training"  This post concludes the tips for supervising your teen's driving by introducing some practices you want to avoid.

When speaking of driver education in terms of "Do's" and "Don'ts", I am sure some of you parents thought to yourselves, “Do hire a professional and Don’t expect me to teach my teen.”  Likewise, there were a few teens who thought, “Do hire an instructor so you Don’t have to yell.”  Hopefully, by the end of the article, you considered the possibility that you could, in fact, survive the drive together.

Starting out on a positive note, let’s review the “Do’s”:

Do start with a prayer—even atheists consider prayer when riding with a new driver
Do remain calm—A nervous driver makes mistakes; a calm driver makes fewer mistakes
Do pull over for discussion—I can’t keep my eyes on the road if I have to look at you when you are talking.
Do give positive reinforcement—The mistakes will be obvious, your new driver really needs to hear about what was done correctly.
Do know your teen’s personality—Every person is unique.  Teach in a way that is well suited for your teen to learn.
Do enjoy your time together—Tell a joke, dodge a tree, have fun!
Do leave your problems at home—Keep your focus on the task of driving.

Any good “Do’s and Don’ts” list has to have a section of Don’ts.  As you train with your teen in the car, avoid the following common mistakes:

Don’t overload your teen.  Focus on specific actions to meet specific objectives.  For instance, your first session should establish smooth braking, smooth acceleration, and smooth steering.  If you are practicing these on private property (as you should), you will not need to emphasize lane management or signaling just yet.

Don’t overload yourself.  Pace yourself, you have plenty of time.  Sessions should range from 60 to 90 minutes in length.  Two hours is too much.  Start in low speed/low traffic areas and work your way up. 

Don’t get in the car without a plan.  You need to know three things before you start: 
1.  Where are you driving?
2.  What skills are you developing?
3.  What minimum amount of time are you spending on each skill?

Having said that, your plan should be flexible.  Your initial plan acts as a basis for change.  If your driver is not ready to practice lane changes, change your plan and work on the preceding essentials.

Don’t keep your plan to yourself.  Let your driver know what you intend to practice up front.  In another sense, give directions early.  Nobody wants surprises on the road; not you nor your teen.  A last second, “turn left here” command will inevitably result in a poorly executed left turn into oncoming traffic.  It may also require a change of clothes when you get home.  Do everyone a favor and give directions early.

Keep these things in mind as you provide your state required 30, 40, or 50 hours of supervised driving.  You will still see some grey hairs, but you should also be able to enjoy yourself and strengthen your relationship with your teen.

For more information about parent involvement in driver education and training, I reccommend the National Driver Training Institute; the nation's premier home-study driver education program.