I survived my son's first drive!

Subdued · #1 07-02-2007, 03:41 PM

Just wanted to make that announcement.

It certainly was a long, tense 1/2 hour, though!!!! It was a relief when he pulled into the driveway.

So now I'm home... nice & safe... that seemed worthy of an announcement.

tamor · #2 07-02-2007, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subdued

Just wanted to make that announcement.

It certainly was a long, tense 1/2 hour, though!!!! It was a relief when he pulled into the driveway.

So now I'm home... nice & safe... that seemed worthy of an announcement.

Congratulations! It sure is worthy of an announcement! That seems so long ago for me and my girls aren't that old!

Scott Hutchinson · #3 07-02-2007, 04:25 PM

My oldest daughter is 14 should I be scared thinking about her driving ?

Subdued · #4 07-02-2007, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tamor

Congratulations! It sure is worthy of an announcement! That seems so long ago for me and my girls aren't that old!

Thank you... I think. I'm not quite sure if I'm happy about him driving or if I'm just plain nervous.

How old are your girls?

Subdued · #5 07-02-2007, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson

My oldest daughter is 14 should I be scared thinking about her driving ?

In a word, YES!

I thought that after driver's ed, I'd feel comfortable with him driving. But now that I think about it, he's only driven a total of seven hours. That's not much.

Rico · #6 07-02-2007, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subdued

Just wanted to make that announcement.

It certainly was a long, tense 1/2 hour, though!!!! It was a relief when he pulled into the driveway.

So now I'm home... nice & safe... that seemed worthy of an announcement.

Hehehehehehehehe! My son is only 15 and I have been letting drive very short distances for the last year, mainly when we go fishing. He gets to park the van after we get all the gear unloaded. Last year I had a stick shift pickup truck for a few months and I made the mistake of letting him pull the trailer out of the water after unloading our boat. It was a stick shift, we were on an incline, and you can guess the rest! He took his foot off the brake, didn't give the truck gas quickly enough, and the back tires ended up almost completely under water before he got the crazy thing stopped! I'd say people heard me screaming for a good five miles around that lake!

He didn't think it was too funny at the time though.

Subdued · #7 07-02-2007, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rico

Hehehehehehehehe! My son is only 15 and I have been letting drive very short distances for the last year, mainly when we go fishing. He gets to park the van after we get all the gear unloaded. Last year I had a stick shift pickup truck for a few months and I made the mistake of letting him pull the trailer out of the water after unloading our boat. It was a stick shift, we were on an incline, and you can guess the rest! He took his foot off the brake, didn't give the truck gas quickly enough, and the back tires ended up almost completely under water before he got the crazy thing stopped! I'd say people heard me screaming for a good five miles around that lake!

He didn't think it was too funny at the time though.

Oh, you poor man!! I feel for ya.

Has your son taken driver's ed yet?

Rico · #8 07-02-2007, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subdued

Oh, you poor man!! I feel for ya.

Has your son taken driver's ed yet?

No. He's only 15 and will have to wait until next year. I will most likely take him out in the country and let do some driving before then though. My parents absolutely refused to let me drive any of their cars and I ended up going out and stealing a few, just so I could drive. I am trying to balance what I know to be right with what I know as a man that once had driving fever. So, I will let him do what my parents never let me do, get a little driving time in under the radar.

CC1 · #9 07-02-2007, 05:32 PM

All of my kids are grown now and have driven for years. When my oldest child, my daughter, got her first car at age 16 I made sure it was a 5 speed manual transmission because I wanted all of my kids to be able to drive a stick.

She was a great driver (had started driving a little at age 13 with me in the car) and she learned how to drive that 5 speed very quickly. I was so proud and thought that I had passed on every important piece of driving know how she could possibly need.

However just two or three months after she got this car a teenage boy hit her and totaled it. She thought she wanted an automatic transmission so the replacement car had one (I was ok because I knew she knew how to drive a sitck if needed).

So months after the manual transmission car was wrecked and replaced with the automatic we got in a conversation and I turned white when I learned that the two or three months she drove her 5 speed she had almost parked and left it in NEUTRAL with just the emergency brake on!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it didn't roll down some hill and hit somebody or something. When I told her that was nuts, that everybody knows you leave a std. transmission car in gear she actually heatedly argued with me that I was wrong. Apparently she ran it by a couple of folks and when they got done laughing at her she figured out I was right.

Moral of the story is don't take for granted your kids will know or do something logical with a car, make sure you cover EVERYTHING involved with both driving and parking.

Subdued · #10 07-02-2007, 05:32 PM

My husband took our son out a few times prior to driver's ed just so he could get the feel of the car & be comfortable with maneuvering it. Not on major roads, though - mostly in our neighborhood & parking lots.

Are 15 y.o.'s not allowed to take driver's ed in your state? They have to be 14 yrs. 8 mos. in mine. My son will be 16 in December; at that time, he can get his level two license & drive alone. For now, he has a level one license & can only drive w/my husband, myself, or another driver over 21 w/our permission.