18 Year Old Is P.o.ed At Me And I Don't Care!!!

[PAPA G]

she hasn't gotten her driver license yet, and i refuse to try any more. in a nut shell she simply is not attentive enough. doesn't keep the car between the lines, her sight wanders off to other things, impatient in traffic, lead foot, doesn't anticipate what might be ahead, waits till the last minute to apply brakes etc.etc.etc.

i told her she can get mad all she wants; i am not going to get a call from the police to go to the morgue and identify her body!!! no way at all can i in good conscieousness allow her to drive. if that puts me in the dog house, so be it!!!

[jerry]

I know the feeling. My 15 yr old goes to drivers ed this summer. He has some of the same traits as your daughter less the driving scenerio.

Scares me to think of that boy out on the road.

[NRAJOE]

Man, she sounds like my wife!

[Rufus Rhastus J]

Yeah, your fear is well founded! My ex crashed the car into the exterior wall of our apartment complex! Yup, for real. But, I blame myself. After all, I bought her a car [beautiful '69 GTX, 440auto, loaded] before she had a license and, I was dumb enough to leave the keys at home. Live and learn!

[ScottD]

I still don't know how my parents survived my escapades with the car.

Papa, I thought you were so much older by the way you act and talk. Hehehe! Shoot if I had kids they would be older than that.

[Dale]

Do they have stop signs in Kentucky?

Do they even have lanes marked on the highway (you mean Kentucky has paved highways now?) ?

Do they have highways?

I can see her taking her attention off of driving. Heck, you have to see what hunk is tending the still that day.

I say all that, Papa, in very light hearted joking to get you to smile.

On a serious note she has to understand her actions can make a difference in someone living or not on the highways.

I think, deep down inside, she knows and maybe she is frustrated.

I'd take her back to the drawing board.....assure her you care for her and let her know that you are willing to get her through this.

Drop back and punt and do it again.

Please don't give up on her.......it would be devastating in the long run.

[trapfreek]

Papa , Maybe you need to let some one else teach her to drive. I just know that my wife could not go out with my girls. Five minutes and they would be yelling at each other. I went out with them and never said a word about their driving. It was'nt easy but the valium helped.

[Shaun]

do what my parents did -- tell her she is responsible for buying and insuring the car --That means she can not get on your policy at all since she is 18 she is a legal adult and you are not liable for her actions anymore. you should be able to find a Yugo or a Chevette for $500 that she can work to buy and insure on her own

[NRAJOE]

What happened to Drivers Ed. in High School?

[PAPA G]

Originally Posted by NRAJOE

What happened to Drivers Ed. in High School?

i don't think thats taught anymore, least not around here, not even a drivers school.

ScottD i am 56 years old, 4 girls 23, 21, 18, and my 9 year old :jaw:

[ScottD]

Gray hair yet? Or bald? Hehehe!!!!

[PAPA G]

Originally Posted by ScottD

Gray hair yet? Or bald? Hehehe!!!!

actually a bit of both

[Oxford]

Trapfreek is exactly right! Oftentimes a parent or spouse has absolutely no patience with a beginning driver. From a new student's viewpoint all those gadgets, dials, wheels, safety rules, ect. that they face overwhelms them emotionally, especially when a parent or spouse innocently enough tries to correct them. Strangely enough, someone else, especially someone who's not a relative, has a much better chance of being patient with their terrible beginning driving skills.

Let me qualify myself. A number of years ago I taught drivers education in public schools for several years, along with other courses, to high school sophomores and also to adult education students...some as old as 65 yrs of age. Believe me, I had some students who would make most people pull out any hair they had remaining on their head. (Come to think of it...maybe that's why I'm now bald )

Several questions have been asked in the threads above...one being why drivers education isn't taught in most schools now. Very simple...when schools face the money crunch they started dropping electives, and drivers education was one of the first to go. I think that was a terrible choice to drop because drivers safety is a lifetime safety skill, unlike a bunch of other electives which some schools include in their curriculum.

Anyway...first the American Automobile Association(AAA) used to pay for a major part of the special equipment required in driver training cars. That was dropped several years ago. Then...many car dealers used to provide at no cost to schools their drivers education vehicles. That was eliminated, too.
Then...the driving simulators kept in the school's classroom tied up a room so that no other course could use that space. Unless there were enough sections of the course that room sat idle several hours of the day. School financers decided they couldn't afford the expense of that empty space...or to pay for those expensive driving simulators. As a result, most students now must attend a private driving school in order to get their licenses.

And lastly, I too failed at teaching my two daughters how to drive They had to get someone else who was more patient with them. And...I thought I was the most patient person who had ever taught driver education. Hey...I even taught my 50 yr old future mother-in-law how to drive after all of her family had given up.

Bottom line. Those kids could become excellent drivers...but find someone else to teach them. It's no offense to you. That's just how the world works.

Ox :right:

[Dennis]

buy them a beater car that is in their name
and set them off on the road to happy destiny
they may wreck that beater car and not have a car untill they get old enough to buy another one for themselves
getting them that first car will give them the experience of haveing a automobile. and then when its gone they will know what they lost.
owning and maintaining a automobile is a basic responsabiliy of an adult.
so many children do not want or are not required to be responsible so they dont learn how.
another big problem with young people learning to drive is Video games.
Driver simulators
it diminishes the fear of wrecking
there are video games that part of the game is wrecking cars that the player "drives"
this desensatizes young people to the very idea of wrecking a car.
Wrecking a car is just one thing
BAD
Many young people dont understand that.
So now a days they dont start becomeing responsible untill they get to be 25? 30?
get some help teaching yout 18 year old
get them a beater car that s their responsability
and then ....pray

[Oxford]

...and some people don't even mature at age 66.

That's all ok (using a beater car)...if they don't beat on someone else's car or hurt someone in the process.

[Snakebite]

Anyone ever see those bloody movies they use to show in drivers ed? I think they should show those again. Makes ya think twice before doing stupid things.

PapaG...There was no way I could EVER be in the same car with my ex step son. He was like you described and he was sorta "forced" to take a drivers class. I had no patience at all with that kid behind the wheel

[Lord Shrike]

I agree with Ox and Tap. I could not learn to drive with my dad. He overeacted to every mistake and made me so nervous that I only than made more. When I drove with my mother things went much better. Plus there really is only one way to learn and that is doing. Most of us were not good drivers when we started myslef included. However most of us survived our mistakes and close calls and learned from them.

[SPOCAHP ANAR]

Have you thought of sending her to a defensive driving school? They have one in NC and I hear there are insurance discounts if you pass.

[Chris]

Well.........you guys make me feel like a real young guy now... !

I got my license almost 2 years ago... I had a severe eye injury that delayed me about 2 years...so yea that sucked for a while.

I hated when my dad acts like he is driving. I am fully alert and watching. We all get comfortable sometimes and miss somthings. You must be patient with new drivers, they are already nervous enough that you are in the car with them.

I fully support your decision Papa! Too many deaths via teens and cars these days.

Maybe I can arrange a small driving school with all the daughters of guys on the boards 18+
Come on now, I gotta have joke with you guys sometime or another

[ScottD]

I'll volunteer to help Chris.