On the way back from Coffs Harbour today I was considering that overtaking might soon suffer the same fate.

Interestingly I spent many hours this weekend siting on the passenger's side while my 16 y/o toiled towards her 120 required hours. She piloted the limo (WH Caprice V8) up and down Dorrigo mountain and even left a 4WD in her wake. I don't really care what the legislation says my girls won't be driving until they are ready.
Daughter #1 did 85 hours (50 required) then a young driver's course.

Tonight I had an argument with a woman I met for the first time about my suggestion that driver instructors (i.e. parents) should pass a test before being allowed to teach anyone to drive. Her argument that she was a good driver but probably wouldn't be able to pass a test .

 

In Victoria they having a couple of 'meanings' they can book you on including things like, operating a vehicle in a dangerous manner, street racing, and i think there is something for enticing other to race as well.

 

 

I agree with that. I'll be getting my children taught by professional instructors. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you can teach it...

 

These kind of discretionary offences are problematic and ripe for abuse by cops having a bad day. That said, dragging other cars off on public streets with other traffic around deserves to be punished...

 

That is true but standards are pretty low for driving instructors. The other problem is that a driving instructor can't easily simulate the real experience of driving.

As part of their training my kids have both > 350km trips on country roads and driving home from their after school jobs at 9pm when they are exhausted, driven with noise, distractions and a car full of their friends.
They have driven on dirt roads and along Parramatta road with a truck on one side and a bus on the other.
Driving schools just can't provide that and at $50 an hour who can afford the $6000+ it would take for a kid to get a licence?
I know plenty of kids that could have only made up their 50 hours with log book fraud. I estimate that at 120 hours they will be in the majority.

With 5 months to go daughter #2 has only managed 50 hours - that is about 2 hours a week.
As she can't drive it, it looks like the RX-8 will spend plenty of time in the garage over the next 6 months.

 

I must admit my driving instructor from L Trent wasn't any better than my parents. He mostly taught me about his own driving experiences, traffic conditions/flows, his daughters (lol), the tricks on how to pass the test, etc etc; rather than telling me how to brake before corners, stay within your own limits, etc like my parents did. I still passed the test first go but I didn't learn much from the Instructor that I couldn't learn from my parents. The 8 hours and hundreds of dollars I spent on those lessons was a waste of time.

When I get the money and the time off from Uni, I'll enter myself into these Advanced Drivers Courses to better help myself in various situations.

Anyway I think as long as you're confident, calm with your kids, and articulate with your instructions you can teach them how to drive. Maybe the first 3-4 hours of driving requires a Professional Lesson but when they get the basics, you can teach them further.

 

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

Quite agree that you should also spend as many hours as possible with them and that typical driving instructors can be not much chop. I was rather referring to getting them taught by advanced driver training instructors asap once they secure their licence. I think it's a cheap investment in something worth so much to you.

 

No arguments here. Advanced drivers build on skills with driving simulations such as emergency braking on uneven surfaces and attempting to correct oversteer in slippery conditions.

Studies have also shown that people get a lot more out of Advanced driving lessons than just driving experience.

If it can help prevent an accident and save a life, its one of the best investments money can buy....