Given that many cash
strapped parents elect to “teach” their children how to drive, one can only
imagine the challenges they experience – are they any good at It?  Quite
possibly but research overseas seems to indicate otherwise.

Here are the “facts”.

One in two learner
drivers (54%) have been out on the road with their parents despite many
mums and dads showing a lack of knowledge of basic driving best practice, with
one in five admitting that they are not sure whether they would pass a driving
test if they had to take it again.

The research,
commissioned by Admiral-sponsored Young Driver campaign, followed driving
instructors working for the scheme where they claimed that their most dreaded
phrase from the young drivers was "but my dad says..."

When questioned, 76% of
parents believed that they were up-to-date with the latest rules and could
provide their children with adequate instruction. However, when quizzed on
particular facts it showed that many were off target when shooting for the
right answer.

Young Driver offers
driving tuition to 10-17 year olds across Britain, and surveyed more than 1,000
people to get these results. 

Here are a few of the
'outdated advice' as mentioned by Admiral:

·        Mirror, signal, and
manoeuvre - more than a third of parents have forgotten this basic rule,
despite it being the cornerstone of good driving. While one in two forget to
teach their children about the importance of checking dangerous blind spots.

· 
  Steering
- Four out of five parents (82%) wouldn't teach the push-pull technique
favoured by instructors.

· 
  Gear
changes - 38% would insist the learner moved up and down the gears sequentially
(1-2-3-4-5-6). However, block gear changing is now considered acceptable in
many situations.

· 
  Hand
position - despite many of us being taught that hands should be kept on the
steering wheel at the 10 to two position, that advice has been revised over
recent years. It is now recommended that hands are in the quarter to three
position, to maintain control and to prevent a serious injury should an airbag
deploy. Some 46% of parents admitted to insisting their youngsters use the
original ten and two placement they'd been taught in the pre-airbag era.

· 
  Manoeuvres
- One in five would be adamant that a turn in the road was a fail unless it was
completed in three manoeuvres. In fact, the modern test allows for up to five
turns, hence, it no longer being called a 'three point turn".

· 
  Assisted
technology - One in four would insist young drivers didn't use parking sensors
or cruise control to help with their driving, but these are perfectly
acceptable in a test situation when used appropriately.

The research also
discovered that dads are twice as likely as mums to take their child out for
practice, with the majority offering additional experience lessons alongside
ones with their driving instructor.

One can only wonder
what a survey in South Africa would show. Given that upwards of 50% of licences
have been obtained fraudulently it is likely that if those parents were
“teaching” their children the results would be horrendous.

For any parents wanting
some advice, feel free to contact our MasterDrive K53 approved training
program.

Till next time – Stay
with what you know.

Eugene Herbert