Understanding the importance of road safety is something we should all strive to achieve as it can directly or indirectly affect ourselves and others on the road. For a learner driver, one of the best ways to gain this understanding is by attending driving school.
Driving school is a common sense approach to learning to drive. Driving instructors are qualified and understand all the rules, laws and regulations when it comes to driving. This is a great starting point for the young learner drive as it will ensure they develop sound knowledge of driving; both theory and practical.
Basic road safety begins before we even start our cars. You should check all the tires for pressure and that oil and water levels are sufficient . It’s important to make sure that your lights and signals are operating so that other drivers on the road can be made aware of your intention to turn corners or merge into another lane. For many of us experienced drivers, we can do these things in a few moments while walking to our car but for the novice driver, it’s a process they need to learn.
A learner driver should understand that capabilities of the car they’re driving. If you choose to use a driving school, the driving instructor will inform your child of this information but if you’re teaching your child, make sure you familiarise them with how your car works. Just because they’ve been a passenger in the car for many years doesn’t mean they have a firm grasp on the power your car wields.
Driver education in a driving school is very focused on eliminating distractions while driving; mobile phone use is the main offender here. The learner driver needs to understand how using a mobile phone while driving is not acceptable and that an accident can occur in a fraction of a second. Thankfully, many schools and law enforcement have taken a hard lined approach to drink driving and your child is more than likely already aware this is not acceptable but it’s still important to discuss the impact drink driving can have not only on themselves but on other people.
Finally, if your car should break down, you should put on your hazard lights so that other motorists are aware there is a problem. Discuss a plan for your child to follow if any problems should occur such as a break down and what numbers they can call for assistance if you’re registered for road side service.
