Remember the agony you went through when you got behind the steering wheel of your dad’s car for the first time? Your hands were trembling when you buckled the safety belt. You could hardly press the button to adjust the mirrors (or maybe in those days you had to open the window and do it manually). And to switch on the engine felt like your were activating a monster that would propel you right through the garage wall and into outer space.

The information below is so you can help your teenage son or daughter to go through a little less stress when he/she is learning to drive. Of course it’s also useful to protect you from serious bodily harm during the whole process…

It’s all-important that you don’t try to teach him everything there is to know in one lesson. Take things slowly, one at a time. First make sure he knows the rules of the road – all the theoretical knowledge he heeds to have to be a good drive. Then starts teaching him about the controls of the car – what they do, and where they are. The indicators, the windscreen wipers, the emergency brake and the light switch. These things can save his life in an emergency one day, when there is just no time to think where on earth did they put the switch for the windscreen wipers.

Secondly, remember that practice makes perfect. Even if your student can’t wait to get going, let him practice all the basic skills over and over. Once again, in an emergency situation they have to react instinctively. There is no time to think what your next step should be. Let them practice in an empty parking lot after hours.

Starting off with parking skills is not a bad idea. This will give the student a feeling for how the car reacts to turning the wheel, braking etc. Reverse parking is never easy for a learner driver, so let him practice this many times over, even if he gets bored.

For an experienced drive it comes naturally to slow down when approaching a curve in the road. This is not so for a new driver. He first has to develop a feeling for how the car reacts when applying the brakes at different speeds, and might go into his first curve way to fast. Another thing that does not come naturally is to slow down some distance from a stop sign and gently apply the brakes. And pulling away from a stop street while there is oncoming traffic in the distance is terrifying to many new drivers. So discuss this with him before you venture into traffic, preparing him mentally for what is to come.

Another thing that is very scary is knowing how to deal with people walking across the road, bicycles moving right in front of you, and other cars changing lanes without warning. This can be life threatening if your child should panic and do something stupid, so discuss this with him before actually venturing into the traffic, and start off where you will encounter this, but not on a bewildering scale.

Something that few driving schools or instructors concentrate on, is to prepare the student for unusual circumstances and conditions. Driving in the rain or snow, or at night, or where there are road works require particular skill, and you must not lose your presence of mind in such a situation. It’s hard to prepare someone for something not even you can foresee, so it’s probably a good idea to get a professional driving instruction video that covers this, and to watch it together with your student. You can then discuss the conditions it portrays and what a proper reaction would be under each set of circumstances. This is a better way of learning to drive than losing your life while trying.

topgear offer driving schools anniesland and there is more iformation about driving lessons in anniesland at www.topgeardrivingtuition.com