We have a young driver in training in our family, and these are exciting and challenging times.
For both the learner and the mentors.
It’s exciting for the young driving student who can just about taste his freedom. And it’s exciting for the grown-up drivers who look forward to the kid driving himself to and from practice and other activities.
It’s challenging for the learner to be so smart about driving and have to remain a passenger in the car with pokey grownup drivers.
And it’s challenging (terrifying) for the grownups who were once young and fearless and immortal and know their wise driving advice is falling on deaf ears.
The young driver in our house has lots of driving experience … with xBox on virtual racecourses where you can be involved in deadly crashes and hit the “reset” button to “heal” yourself and your car.
Last time I was in a real-life crash (with a deer) there was no “reset” button, and the incident prompted an insurance claim and a replacement vehicle.
While he’s been driving farm implements and four-wheel ATVs for several years, our young driver in training has no real-life experience to back up his confidence.
His snowmobile once collided with the back end of Grandpa’s snowmobile, but it was chalked up to an expensive learning experience.
His ATV has been in several near misses, and the only reason we’ve escaped “learning experiences” on these mini automobiles is our guardian angels work overtime.
They’re exhausted actually, from following around the kid who insists on driving the ATV on its back two wheels and the snowmobile on only one side.
But now that we have classroom driver’s education under the belt, the 14-year-old is giving driving advice.
“You should always yield to the driver on the right,” he observed at the four-way stop.
“But I arrived at the intersection first.”
“Pass this slowpoke, Mom. We’re late for school.”
“We’re on a hill, and we can’t see what’s coming. See? We would have collided with that truck.”
“You can pass this slow vehicle, Mom. Traffic is clear from the other direction. There’s not a double yellow line.”
“It’s icy. And passing is risky in these conditions.”
“The speed limit is 55 here. You’re only doing 40.”
“It’s icy. Notice that car in the ditch? It was probably driving the speed limit.”
“You’re supposed to have your hands on the steering wheel at 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock.”
“Whatever happened to 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock?”
“It’s safer to place them lower, in the event that your airbag would deploy.”
“Oh, then I should drive with my knee while I apply this mascara.”
… Of all the things for grownups to worry about with the young driver, at least mascara won’t be a factor.