Behind the wheel
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
behind the wheel
Behind the wheel
As a behind the wheel instructor, I run into all kinds of driving situations with mystudents. The state of Illinois mandates that students receive six hours of behind thewheel instruction. As a class, we do not just teach our students to drive straight; we teach them various skills that most parents do not teach their children. The first situation that always surprises me is the level of experience of some of my students. Most of the students have held their permit at least four months to almost a year, before they take the behind thewheel class.
It surprises me, when a student has very few practice hours before they come to class. They will tell me that their parents work too much and have no time to take them out in the car. I encourage the students to ask their parents to have them drive and run errands with them. Who does not need groceries, or clothes, or other household (indoor and outdoor) supplies? Someone has to drive to the store to get the necessary items. So instead of teaching these students skill levels, I end up having to go over very basic skills with them. The skills include how to use your brakes and accelerator, how to make a right and left hand turn. When a student is given very little practice time, they end up staying in the school parking lot until they get better. I will not let that person drive on the highway, and put everyone’s lives at stake because some parent is not able to do their parenting job.
Another situation that irks me, is when other drivers cut off in front of my students without a signal or warning. Now on top of the car is a big sign that says “Student Driver”. One would think that another driver would like to stay away from a beginner driver; however, that is not always the case. We have had drivers honk their horns because my students wait three seconds after they stop at a stop sign. If anyone has to drive at the DMV, and you do not wait until three seconds after you stop, they will call it an incomplete stop.
When I take my life in my hands, is on expressway day. Most drivers are very good about letting a student driver merge onto the expressway without any problems; however, we have run into various instances where people would not let the driver get on, and they would drive next to us, while we are trying to merge. So the next time you see a student driver behind the wheel, try to remember when you were learning to drive and have some patience.