by Hollie McAfee
My daughter is 16 and got her license in October. When she took Drivers’ Ed back in March, I was hoping she would get some snowy weather to practice in. But March turned out to be a very nice month this year. Today, while making sugar cookies, she realized we are out of eggs. My parents live 3 miles away and have free-range chickens and too many eggs for their use, so we took this opportunity to practice snow driving.
She did remarkably well, despite the nervous passenger clutching cartons of eggs so tightly we almost had scrambled eggs for lunch. One of the roads was not plowed so it was hard to tell where the shoulder was, and I yelped, “You’re too close to the side!” more than once. She had the experience of being passed by a trailer truck on a two lane road, which is intimidating in good driving conditions. The tires spun a little in my parents’ driveway and she kept her cool and powered through it.
I am proud of her driving skills and glad that she gave me the opportunity to blog about something potentially insurance-related, but not TOO insurance-related (things happen, after all.) Studies show that teens whose parents are actively involved in their driving instruction have fewer accidents. I don’t think instruction should stop when the license is issued, so I take every chance I can to ride with my daughter and instruct her, even if my efforts are met with rolled eyes and “I got this, Mom” comments.
Here’s a website with great information and resources in keeping your teen safe on the roads.