Tips For Teaching Young Drivers

In addition to offering driving lessons to students throughout Coventry and the surrounding area, The Driving Force also offers comprehensive driving training that will put you on the road to a new career. Once you have become a driving instructor, you are going to find that a large bulk of your students are going to be younger, often in their late-teens. Young drivers sometimes require a different teaching approach than you would take with older students, so try to keep the following tips in mind to make your lessons as effective as possible.

Emphasize The Basics

Make sure that you talk about the importance of keeping hands at the 10 and 2 positions on the steering wheel and pay attention to any attempts by the driver to deviate from this. This could mean crossing hands or allowing the wheel to slide through their grasp when coming out of turns. This is something that you need to keep an eye on with all students, but youngsters in particular tend to be prone to holding the wheel in other ways. Emphasize the importance of proper wheel positioning in regards to test success.

Get Rid of Distractions

Today’s teenagers live in a world of constant distractions, especially when it comes to smartphones. Before the lesson begins, make sure that any phones are turned off, as this will ensure you receive the student’s full attention and they don’t get distracted by any ringtones.

Less Pressure

Don’t take an approach where you consistently mention slip-ups. While it is important to point out errors, if you keep going over them you may find that younger drivers start to disengage. For every error that you do have to point out, think of positives in the lesson that you can use to provide extra encouragement.

Emphasize Theory Revision

Many of your younger students will already have their plates full with college or university revision, which may mean that their theory knowledge starts to take a slip. As such, you need to point out the importance of spending a little bit of time revising the Highway Code as often as possible. Point out that half an hour of reading every couple of nights will save a lot of cramming for the theory test when it is actually booked.

Have Fun

If you try to be too stern in your teaching efforts, you are again going to find that your younger students start to disengage. While it is important that you always steer your lessons in the right direction, acting too much like a teacher can have the opposite effect to the one you desire. Show your authority, but don’t be afraid that have a laugh and a joke.

Slowly Increase Challenges

As your student starts to make improvements, consider taking them out in different weather conditions. A bit of time spent driving around an empty car park or road in adverse conditions can often be a real eye opener in terms of the responsibilities of driving, which should lead to your student taking their lessons more seriously.