[DonDavis]

Once I got into Driver Training, it became obvious to me that people rarely ever take any type of training whatsoever after their Drivers Ed in HS. And that's IF they had that.

A 1-day class to erase a ticket does not count. And contrary to post 49, what I taught/teach is far outside the scope of what he thinks.

Teaching a 15-16 year old is challenging enough with how rapidly their lives are changing. School, jobs, college future, puberty, dating, drama...all of it.

Initially, they struggle with just keeping the car in their lane. Attempting to share the advanced techniques would be overwhelming to most, but not all kids.

I've ridden with young drivers that had impressive awareness and others that were simply terrifying.

I've been asked many times to teach friend's kids. That conversation can be touchy. Sure, I really like sharing knowledge, but teaching kids that are close to me can get emotional. For them, not me.

Telling them their technique is unsafe usually gets into "my friend told me to do that, it works for them" "Johnny's girlfriend was told to watch YT video and it said to do it that way.."

Young drivers typically resist being told what to do. "Mom made me ride with you.." dominates their mindset. So, I boil it down to 3 simple things.

Look ahead 15 secs, making them count off.

Anticipate braking, just lifting off the gas will slow a car. Showing them that really opens their eyes. Slowing to a stop is much more efficient and peaceful than racing up to the stop sign/light and harshly braking.

And lastly, check your mirrors. Gotta know what's going on around them at all times.

I've only done that maybe 5 times. Then later, they come back and share what they have observed, it's always positive and they ask other questions. Again, I don't get too far into the weeds. Just chatting about real life driving.

When I first became Certified, I asked my then 23 year old daughter to go for a ride. Not to teach her the technique, but to practice my speaking parts. You see, my class begins as I approach the vehicle with the student. My Demonstration drive is 12 minutes long and I cover 39 specific items that tie into the 5 Keys.
There's no talking or questions from the students during this time. We have much conversation after that, but they need to see/hear all the things that I'm doing and why.

After that drive, my daughter looked at me with wide eyes and said "Dad, you have to remember all of that and share it every time? That's amazing!"

But I've never held an actual class for her or her husband. My son has learned plenty from me, but he's curious and now he's 23 and a very calm driver. He picked up the tips from watching me all those years.

But hey, what do I know.