‘Why pay for driving lessons when I can teach them?’ Six things for parents with Learner Drivers to consider.
It’s an experience many of us can relate to: your child is growing up far too fast for your liking. The latest milestone? They just passed their driving theory test, and they are beyond excited at the potential freedom that being a fully licensed driver will soon bring. Now there is an official L-plater in the household!
However, for you as the parent or carer, this is Scary Stuff. You can’t even get them to operate the washing machine – and now they expect you to trust them behind the wheel of the family car. How do you trust your beloved teen behind a dangerous, 1300-kilogram machine – especially when they seem to have the attention span of a puppy most days?
That’s where Wagga Drive Smart can come to the rescue. You may be thinking, ‘But I know how to drive. Why spend the money on something I can teach them myself?’
This is a logical conclusion to come to, and one that many parents experience as their initial reaction to the newly-minted learner in the house.
But there are some good reasons why investing in driving lessons for your teen or young adult is well worth the reasonable cost involved.
Here are six important points to consider:
- 1. Safety – this probably does not need a mention, but it is well worth pointing out the benefits of hiring a professional to do this job. The fully accredited and experienced team at Wagga Drive Smart make safety their first priority. All Wagga Drive Smart drivers are Keys2drive qualified, and over the years, they have helped hundreds of drivers obtain their driver’s license on their first go.
- The Wagga Drive Smart team are passionate about bringing that awareness of safety to learning drivers, without scaring them or knocking their confidence. Other drivers’ texting or talking, tail gating, wet road conditions and narrow roads with loose shoulders are just a few of the unseen hazards that many inexperienced drivers may not be aware of.
- Adam and the Wagga Drive Smart team train their learner drivers to ‘see the unseen’ when it comes to potential hazards on the road, all while giving them the confidence they need to succeed in their driving test the first time around.
- 2. Cost-benefit Analysis – Consider recurring costs associated with child rearing, such as what you may have paid over the years in school uniforms, sport rego fees or music lessons – all without giving them a second thought. Consider other less important tasks that you may already be outsourcing to professionals – especially ones that you could do yourself, such as painting, cleaning, or gardening. Yet none of these are jobs that have the potential to impact upon the long-term safety of your family if they aren’t done right. Paid driving lessons are a small, one-off investment in your teen’s future and safety on the road, and one that everyone needs to consider for the overall well being of their family.
- At Wagga Drive Smart, we aim to keep our prices competitive and to maximise the skills taught in an average of six lessons, making it well worth your investment of time and money.
- 3. Just because you know something doesn’t mean you can teach it! –Perhaps you have heard this old adage before. But it is especially true for teaching a skill that has, over time, become almost automatic, such as driving or riding a bike. Can you break it down into steps? Can you remember the proper safety checks to go through before even pulling out onto the road? If you have been driving for some time, you would probably have to think about it!
- If you are an experienced driver, you may also have developed some bad personal driving habits that you don’t want to pass on to your novice driver. It may also be the case that you have forgotten some of the finer details when it comes to road rules. And, there is a good chance that some of those rules may have even changed in the time that has elapsed since you first took to the wheel.
- That’s where the team and Wagga Drive Smart can help. Trust their industry currency and expertise. They do this for a living and have an excellent success rate.
- 4. Take the emotion out of the equation – If you have a teen in the house, you probably know that they can sometimes be unpredictable, in both behaviour and moods. And, of course, they also know everything – so any advice (solicited or otherwise) from mum and dad is met with an eye roll at best. Now imagine that behind the wheel of a car!
- Perhaps your teen might be willing to take feedback, constructive criticism or advice quite nicely from a teacher, coach, extended family member or other adult…but when it comes to listening to mum or dad? Ugh, here come the fireworks.
- Having an experienced, calm and professionally detached instructor from the Wagga Drive Smart team can help your learning driver take on board the feedback, build their skills, correct their mistakes and proceed with confidence. All while sparing you the headache of conflict with a distracted teen behind a wheel! That alone is worth the price.
- 5. Risk of damage to the family car – a prang to the car by a learner driver is rarely serious or life-threatening. But having to take the primary mode of family transport out of action for a time while damage is being repaired is certainly a hassle, as anyone who has ever had an accident will testify. Not to mention the cost, dealing with insurance companies, and other inconveniences that may arise. This is especially important if you live in a single-vehicle household, or live in a regional area, where public transportation is either non-existent or simply too costly. Give your learner a few lessons to kick start their driving skills and start building their road confidence in one of Wagga Drive Smart’s vehicles before putting them behind the wheel of your own!
- 6. The dreaded reverse park – There are many of us who may not want to admit to this, but it’s true. Even after years of driving, this may be one area where you still don’t feel 100% confident. This skill is part of the New South Wales driving test, so your learner driver will need to have this one mastered with confidence. This may most definitely be one area you’re happy to outsource. Let the team at Wagga Drive Smart help!
If these reasons – or even just one of them – resonates with you, call Wagga Drive Smart today. Don’t DIY if you don’t have to, especially when it comes to safety.