Better Driving? More Experience, Parents Needed

Re “What Helps a New Driver? More Driving” (The New York Times, Feb. 19, 2018)
You write “That’s Wrong” to Robert D. Foss’ comment that people think the main problem for teenage drivers is teenage irresponsibility.

Your opinion is stated as, “The real problem is lack of experience, and the only way to get to the other side is to have teenagers do more driving.”

Practice makes perfect, especially with driving. Experience is the number one trait all drivers should have, especially teenagers. Parents play a crucial role in this because their experience is far greater than teenagers. If parents aren’t present in this important time in teenage life, their driving skills may be diminished and seen to have a lack of.

“Practice driving,” you said, “the parent is advising on any road decisions, anticipating problems, managing anything that has to be attended to inside the vehicle.” Teenagers are far more likely to be involved in an accident within their first year of obtaining their licenses.” This chance is fairly diminished if parents do their jobs correctly and guide the teenager through correct driving skills.

You talk about how these new cars are packed with new features, and even some of them helpful for safety issues. You also talk about how parents must put their teenagers in the safest vehicle possible to insure safety and protection at all times. This is absolutely essential and a must because as drivers are just starting to take on the road, safety is the number one priority.

Good driving starts with good parenting and surplus experience. More experience, better driver.

Paige DiMatteo
Lasell College