Should I be Teaching my 13 year old to drive....?

andicole0 said:
Don't get her started on an automatic. Try any racing circuit, Brands Hatch near me have special courses for youngsters using real cars, real teachers and real environment.

Then get her go-karting.

Andi.
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I got banned for arguing at Brands its near me too, but i fell out with one of the instructors for the youngsters :)

It wasnt one of my finest hours.
 
DiamondMark said:
I got banned for arguing at Brands its near me too, but i fell out with one of the instructors for the youngsters :)

It wasnt one of my finest hours.
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Banned for speeding again? :D I just dropped my son off and left him to it ;) He really enjoyed it, I never talk to driving instructors, they're job is get the test passed real driving comes from experience.

Andi.
 
andicole0 said:
Banned for speeding again? :D I just dropped my son off and left him to it ;) He really enjoyed it, I never talk to driving instructors, they're job is get the test passed real driving comes from experience.

Andi.
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No banned from bringing my daughter again.

I bought the bloke a drink in the hotel months after, but we did fall out :)
 
Is there anywhere like Romford Cardrome where you are?

It's a small area of mock roads with traffic lights, hill start places and so on. Anyone can drive there provided they can reach the pedals. Can't remember how much it was, it was years ago I went but it's good for learning safely.
 
Have you got access to any fields? Would a farmer friend let you borrow one if not?

I was lucky enough to live quite rurally when I was 14, and bought a Fiat Panda for £200 to bomb it round the fields in. It obviously gave me absolutely no help with the rules of the road and the like, but I imagine that when it came to clutch control and hill starting in my first few lessons I was better than most.

Make sure that she is doing the right thing though; have a read up on driving test techniques etc, and go with her to watch how she drives. When I did it I picked up a lot of bad habits, which gave me absolutely no help in passing my test (crossing my arms when steering etc).
 
i think theres no harm in teaching your kid to drive if you have somewhere safe to do so. teaching them in an automatic however, well your just gona take most of the fun out of it. teach them clutch control and its something they will always remember. i kinda wonder if a day out go-karting would be better than steering a big beemer round a carpark at 10mph :/
an mot failure car used in a harvested corn field is what i used to drive round in when i was about 14.
 
I was about 13/14 when I started parking my dads car after we had unloaded all the gear when when we went fishing. It was a deserted single dirt track so safe enough, although I'm not sure on the legality of it.

9 times out of 10 it would be in my mums auto but if we went in the pickup he'd tell me to just leave it in second (which I then promptly ignored)

Taught me bugger all about driving but it saved him a 1/2 mile trek each way!
 
There's nothing worse than stifling a young'uns eagerness to do something..
She could be the next Michelle Mouton !!

Find her a place she can drive safely and get on with it.

I was driving tractors as soon as I had enough body weight to depress the clutch :D
 
Come to think of it I was actually driving on the roads (in the tractor) without a licence during harvest time, either ferrying the grain, straw or the silage trailers back to the farm from the fields only accessed by road.
No one ever batted an eye lid.
The world is so wrapped up in red tape nowadays though.

As for your ex missus phoning your employers about letting her steer your truck...
FFS. what a miserable bint.
 
I've just bought my nephew an hour here they teach 11 - 16 year olds to drive in dual control Seat Ibizas, I think my sister is going to pay for him and his mates to drive there for a birthday party type thing

I learnt in a field in a Landy then a Fuego turbo then many more as my neighbour had a car recovery business :)
 
My dad let me drive his auto Pajero when I was about 13, really didn't learn anything at all by driving it. Bit of a laugh though, can't do any harm.
 
I told her this morning what I had in mind, she was keen and excited.

After Sunday lunch at my Muns with her, she seems to have lost interest entirely and facebook / MSN / TEXTing friends appeals much more to her!

Bloody typical!

lol - She did say "next weekend" though, so all hope is not (quite) lost! :D
 
Nothing wrong with a tootle around on private land. Just be aware that supposedly kids don't develop the ability to judge the speed of other objects by sight until around 14 years old. So make it an empty field.
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
I told her this morning what I had in mind, she was keen and excited.

After Sunday lunch at my Muns with her, she seems to have lost interest entirely and facebook / MSN / TEXTing friends appeals much more to her!

Bloody typical!

lol - She did say "next weekend" though, so all hope is not (quite) lost! :D
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I call that a result, you got of easy.
 
BigglesPiP said:
Nothing wrong with a tootle around on private land. Just be aware that supposedly kids don't develop the ability to judge the speed of other objects by sight until around 14 years old. So make it an empty field.
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I'm aware from the italics that you've probably got your doubts about it too but that does sound like a bit of a nonsense, surely if kids couldn't judge the speed of other objects before the age of 14 then none of them could cross a road without the cars being stopped for them or getting knocked down?
 
You're right that I'm sceptical, and I've not bothered to research this at all since I heard it. But I can see that going by distance of the car when crossing the road can work. Anyway, kids get run over all the time.

Edit:
It's suggested here that 10 year olds lack judgement for "pedestrian situations": http://www.solomonstarnews.com/viewpoint/private-view/7397-road-safety-for-our-school-children

But this seems to suggest they're simply not as good as adults, but still capable: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...nCgKYxxbQ&sig2=bgPa_2s2wC9R5A3GgLdqwA&cad=rja
 
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