Description

In the third and fourth lesson, parents and teens can learn about various turns and parking positions, and how to perform them correctly.

Transcript

Female speaker: By now you may have introduce some small distractions into your lessons. A little music at a low volume is a good place to start. As you begin these sections; you should be about two months into your instruction. You'll continue to see an overlap in required tasks for Drive Packets 3 and 4. Your student needs to repeat tasks in order to master them. However there are some new skills to develop in this section. Male Speaker: As discussed in the main program, space management is of utmost importance. Most of new drivers have a tunnel like vision, where they only see a short distance ahead of them in a very narrow path. To help your student tpo overcome this; try the following exercise. As your teen is driving down a low traffic road; have them tell you where their vision is directed ahead of the car, then help them find a spot at least twice as far ahead and use this as their new focal distance. Ideally this distance would always be between 20 and 30 seconds ahead. This will allow your student to react more quickly to upcoming situations, while still being able to see what's immediately ahead of them. To widen their peripheral vision, ask your teen to verbally identify houses, signs and other landmarks away from the road. This will allow them to notice potential hazards heading towards the road they're traveling on, rather than only seeing what's already in their path of travel. Be sure to stress the importance of scanning the entire visual field by constant eye movement. They should avoid steering straight ahead. Female Speaker 1: Lesson 3 of the main program includes several explanations and demonstrations of all types of turning paths and parking situations. These are not trivial and should not be overlooked. Your student must master all the various types and situations. U-turns, two point turns, and three point turns should all be practice on a lightly populated street. It's a great idea for the parent to perform each maneuver before the student does. Student should practice curb, angle, and perpendicular parking until they've mastered each. Student should practice parallel parking in a traffic and obstacle free zone; such as an empty parking lot. Cones or all the parking aid should be setup to simulate a parking space. Have your student practice until they've mastered it. You can find thorough demonstrations of each of these tasks in lesson 3 of the main program. Female Speaker: Once you're ready for Drive Packet 4 of the In-Car Instruction; your student will be driving at speeds up to 55mph. Much of this section consists of previously practiced tasks, but at slightly higher speeds. Male Speaker: That's right, but your student isn't quite ready for the expressway yet; so avoid performing any of these tasks at such high speeds. Female Speaker 1: What you don't want to avoid is practicing with your teen, continue working on lane changes, speed, and position changes; and approaching curbs and intersections. Female Speaker: If you haven't already, ask your teen to start verbally responding to the space around your car. Female Speaker 1: The silver car in the left lane is signaling right and is now turning in front me while just ahead the light turn red. Talking out a lot about was happening in front me, really helped me become more aware of my surroundings. Female Speaker: When I was first learning to drive; I also vocally responded to speed changes, I would shout out the speed I was traveling when I increased or decreased my speed. This helped me to get a better feel for how fast I was traveling without having to look down in my speedometer every other second. Male Speaker: While you are progressively incorporating distractions into your lessons; it's a good time to start including night driving in low traffic areas with slower speeds. The majority of accidents occur at night. The driving in hazardous conditions section of the main program includes numerous tips on driving at night. Your teen must practice night driving in order to be prepared for it; when they have their license. If you avoid it now; your student will be incredibly unsafe attempting it for the first time on their own. Female Speaker 1: I have one more tip that can be really helpful. Role reversal, occasionally switch roles with your student. You drive and let them tell you where to go and do what they want you to do. Let them critique your habits, good or bad. This will give you both the different perspective that could have a positive impact on your experience together. I will warn you though; this will probably be a little more fun for your students; and it likely they'll mock the teaching style. Male Speaker: Because the majority of accidents happen close to home; you should inform your teen of the most hazardous areas near your house. Get on to the driver's seat and travel a couple of routs that your student is likely to use the most often. Point out specific areas where your teen should be extra cautious. An example would be to note a house where small children play near the road; or a stop sign that people tend to run without stopping. The list could go on and it should for your teen, then have your teen drive and repeat the same hazardous to you as they reach each point in their routs. This exercise reinforces alertness and may prevent your teen from becoming too comfortable on familiar roads. Female Speaker: Well I hope these tips help you and your student throughout the process. Continue to practice these In-Car lessons until you feel that your student is capable of moving on. It's important that you do because high speed expressways are up next.