Parents teach us many things as we grow up but a survey conducted by Young Driver has shown that parents may be leading their children astray when it comes to driving. Young Driver are a driving tuition company which offers lessons for children and young adults aged 10-17 years old at over 40 venues across the nation.
54% of parents help to teach their children to drive but the advice passed on isn't always best practice. Over 1,000 parents were asked a series of questions to get an understanding of the information they are passing down to their offspring. 76% believed they were up-to-date with the latest rules and regulations but the results on the survey reveal this is certainly not the case.
Mirror, signal, forget
Although the famous mirror, signal, manoeuvre is one of the first things you learn when driving it seems that it's not a memorable part of driving as over a third (39%) of parents had not passed this onto their children and a staggering 47% forgot to even explain the benefit of checking blindspots.
Parents are still teaching the 10 and 2 hand position which may have been right 'back in the day' but nowadays pupils are taught to maintain a 'quarter to three' hand position as it gives more control and less chance of injury should the steering wheel airbag inflate following a crash. Sticking to the theme of steering, the survey shows that a whopping 82% fail to teach the push-pull method of steering that is favoured by instructors.
Parents have also told young drivers that a turn in the road must be completed in three turns which is no longer the case as you can now take up to five turns to complete the manoueuvre which is why it's not called a 'turn in the road' as opposed to a three-point turn. According to the survey dads are twice as likely than mums to take their children out for practice sessions but only 9% of young drivers rely purely on a family member for lessons.
These are some of the lines which come from the lips from young drivers in regards to what they have been told by their parents:
“My dad told me you don’t need to stop at a STOP sign if there’s nobody coming.”
“My dad always told me to put my foot down when the traffic lights were on amber to get through.”
“My mum was adamant that if I didn’t go down through each of the gears when I stopped at a junction I would fail my test – even though I repeatedly said that contradicted with what the instructor told me!”
“My dad was always trying to tell me to squeeze past cyclists and horses when I knew the instructor would tell me to hold back and wait until I could properly overtake. I found it very stressful!”
“My dad helped me with some practice theory questions. When my instructor asked if my dad had helped me I thought I better be honest. His reply: 'thought so, he got them wrong!'”
“My dad drove using his knees and told me it was the best way to drive.”
For more information about Young Driver visit www.youngdriver.eu