be very afraid
I was going to say the roadways of North Florida are no longer safe, but truth be told, they weren't safe before this weekend. I can take you back to last weekend, when some idiot in a pick up truck went speeding through a red light and almost took out a guy on a bicycle, who actually was following the law and waited for his green light to go through an intersection, but also saw the pick up truck not even slowing down as it approached the same intersection and grabbed the brakes. The result of all that....I'm still here today.
Back to the point though. the youngster is out there folks. Last week he still had the cast on one arm, which made turning a steering wheel a little difficult if it needed both hands. He got there, but it as awkward. Because of that, we limited ourselves to rarely traveled roads in new neighborhoods that have very few houses yet. He had the road to himself and he could slow down...or stop...or whatever, and nobody would care. I took him there a few times, and so did the wife.
I will also pat myself on the back about this. Maybe it comes from years teaching people how to fly helicopters and having them try to kill me...I'm far more calm about the whole ordeal than the wife. He said she's a very nervous and vocal teacher, which only makes him more nervous, and it starts to snowball.
That part became evident Sunday morning, when I handed him the keys leaving church. She sat in the back seat, and I had him pull out. From the minute the car inched forward, there was a non-stop commentary from the back. "Slow down...watch out for that..don't DO...oh my God...what are you doing???" I almost asked her if she wanted a blindfold. No, he wasn't the smoothest driver in the world, but he never will be unless he gets to practice, and a calm environment will go a long way to getting us there. He got us home in one piece, and didn't do anything remotely illegal, or dangerous.
I took him out later, on the 30 mile loop we use for bike riding when 30 miles is the goal....so he knew the roads. He's getting better with every mile, and in the end...he'll be fine.
Someone gave me a tip yesterday, and I mentioned it at the dinner table, but I thought it'd be good for the two of them. A friend at work, who helped teach his nephew and was a bit nervous about it, read about this and used it, and said it helped. Have the youngster talk while driving....a running commentary of everything he's doing and thinking about doing. That way you know, as he's coming to the intersection, that he's thinking about the brakes, and his turn signal, and he's using them. Then you know he's thinking about the turn...etc. That way you aren't nagging him two minutes before you get to the hard right turn in the road, because you know he's already thinking about it. The wife shrugged. The youngster called it the dumbest thing he ever heard...so I'm thinking it may not get very far, but I think it'd help them stay sane.
As for the rest of you on the road, and your sanity....you're on your own.
Back to the point though. the youngster is out there folks. Last week he still had the cast on one arm, which made turning a steering wheel a little difficult if it needed both hands. He got there, but it as awkward. Because of that, we limited ourselves to rarely traveled roads in new neighborhoods that have very few houses yet. He had the road to himself and he could slow down...or stop...or whatever, and nobody would care. I took him there a few times, and so did the wife.
I will also pat myself on the back about this. Maybe it comes from years teaching people how to fly helicopters and having them try to kill me...I'm far more calm about the whole ordeal than the wife. He said she's a very nervous and vocal teacher, which only makes him more nervous, and it starts to snowball.
That part became evident Sunday morning, when I handed him the keys leaving church. She sat in the back seat, and I had him pull out. From the minute the car inched forward, there was a non-stop commentary from the back. "Slow down...watch out for that..don't DO...oh my God...what are you doing???" I almost asked her if she wanted a blindfold. No, he wasn't the smoothest driver in the world, but he never will be unless he gets to practice, and a calm environment will go a long way to getting us there. He got us home in one piece, and didn't do anything remotely illegal, or dangerous.
I took him out later, on the 30 mile loop we use for bike riding when 30 miles is the goal....so he knew the roads. He's getting better with every mile, and in the end...he'll be fine.
Someone gave me a tip yesterday, and I mentioned it at the dinner table, but I thought it'd be good for the two of them. A friend at work, who helped teach his nephew and was a bit nervous about it, read about this and used it, and said it helped. Have the youngster talk while driving....a running commentary of everything he's doing and thinking about doing. That way you know, as he's coming to the intersection, that he's thinking about the brakes, and his turn signal, and he's using them. Then you know he's thinking about the turn...etc. That way you aren't nagging him two minutes before you get to the hard right turn in the road, because you know he's already thinking about it. The wife shrugged. The youngster called it the dumbest thing he ever heard...so I'm thinking it may not get very far, but I think it'd help them stay sane.
As for the rest of you on the road, and your sanity....you're on your own.
Labels: Family Stuff
John put this out here at 8:22 AM
1 Comments:
that's great advice though, when teaching someone to drive, because I'll never forget being nagged by my parents while learning to drive! Thanks for the tip!
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