Rite of passage: driving and school:job

[Piper]

Hi, son is now 20 and after a few tries he passed his test and has his learners permit. I know by his age if he could pass the road test he could have gotten actual drivers license by law. Never tried that as he hasn't passed the learners test so was unable to practice driving without that permit. Well he has it now and as he says "its my rite of passage" to get to drive. If you tell him when to stop as in coming up to a stop sign or upcoming red lite he knows to stop. Otherwise. He's the only one on the road!! He would just keep on going. He terrifies me when driving with him. We were in a business parking lot that has lanes to go up and down in and he was in the going down lane but when he saw a car coming up the other side he moved over to that side and the other car had to move over to up lane side! He has no idea what he did wrong. How do you get thru the rite of passage to drive if he can't drive on his own? He's gonna be starting our community college summer classes soon otherwise he as he says never gets out of the house. I told him he could get a job or go to school and he chose school. that will be two classes two days a week.

 

[Judge]

How do you get thru the rite of passage to drive if he can't drive on his own?

Perhaps you should consider sending him to an independent driving school. Having a learners permit is not the same as being legally considered a nominally competent driver.

 

[Piper]

I wish we had such a thing. Don't even have drivers ed here either.

 

[Kari Suttle]

...how did he pass the written test to get his permit if he doesn't even know the rules of the road?! Really! I'm being serious. Idk where you live (i live in the U.S.) but with the written test they gave us it had all the rules in it - who has the right of way when, anything and everything related to drinking and driving laws AND the fines/jail times associated, what the lines vs dots and yellow vs white lines on the road mean, etc. He needs to know all of the rules of the road, understand how important they are, and demonstrate use of them on his own without being told with your supervision before he is ever allowed in a car like that. That puts you and him and those around him in so much danger if he won't stop or do the right thing unless told! Forget his getting to his college classes, safety in the car is my top concern with him.

I dont mean to sound rude but it sounds like he's not taking it seriously. My drivers ed teacher taught us to take the class seriously with true stories of horrific accidents in the area she'd heard of, all backed up by pictures of the accident that she'd pass around the room. One that i remember vividly was of someone who was in a car that stopped on a road. I don't remember the precise details, just that they were not legally supposed to have stopped there; i believe it was near the entrance to an overpass. But because they'd stopped where they weren't supposed to on the highway just on the side, were there was no joining lane for them to safely resume moving, speed up and rejoin traffic they got hit by a semi going full speed. The car was totalled. I don't remember what happened to the people.

 

[AsheSkyler]

My written test was mostly about signs and lines. Maybe one or two involving meeting cars in traffic. One of which who goes first at a stop sign.

Got any vehicle savvy friends? Cool city guy or a machinery operator in the country? Somebody good at driving motorized things would be good to hang with and help teach him how to drive a car. I'd even recommend ATVs or go-karts in a field or empty parking lot to get down the basics before moving to a busy road.

 

[Judge]

If I had a child that appeared so reckless on the road I'm afraid I would refrain teaching him altogether. Whether they had an alternative learning solution or not.

Hopefully your area does have some semblance of a public transportation system. He could learn that out of necessity being the mother of invention.