Automotive Tips

Teen Driving: 5 Tips for Parents Teaching a Teen to Drive

While learning to drive is an exciting milestone for teens, it can send a parent’s anxiety level through the roof. Concerned parents want to prepare their teens for driving especially during the summer months when, according to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration, twice as many accidents occur.

The first in our three part series, Southern California Jiffy Lube provides these tips for parents of teens learning to drive:

• Communication: Set ground rules based on mutual expectations; learning to drive is challenging so be sensitive to your teens demeanor. Should they make a mistake, calmly explain what it was and how to do it correctly next time. Parents should emphasize the need for their new driver to listen to them when offering guidance. Mutual respect from both the teen and the parent goes a long way.
• Vehicle maintenance check: Make sure the vehicle your teen will drive is safe and current on oil change services, tire and brake maintenance, coolant levels, and that other routine maintenance checks have been implemented.

• Driver’s education class: Enroll your teen in a driving class to learn basic rules and/or practice driving with a trained and objective 3^rd party instructor to help build confidence.
• Know your state’s driving laws: Read your teen’s driving manual to refresh yourself on the rules of the road and current state teen driving laws and restrictions. Make sure your teen abides by the hours and provisions set forth to avoid tickets and accidents.
• Plan the location of practice and create a safe driving checklist: Decide where you and your teen will initially go to practice driving—perhaps an empty parking lot or quiet local street. Maintain a checklist with everything planned for each practice; share your plan with your teen, and document the progress.

Riding as your passenger for the last 15+ years, your teen has already learned a lot about driving from you. Positive role modeling continues with regular vehicle maintenance including the next time you need to find a Jiffy Lube for a Los Angeles oil change.

For more information on teaching teens to stay safe behind the wheel, follow us on Twitter for more useful info, or check out this link to CNN Parents to access a recent article on the subject. Remember to look our follow up blog, with even more tips for teen driving, including the top three common errors contributing to nearly half of all serious accidents involving teen drivers.