Getting my Sons Driver Hours up

[me&myVZ]

Hey Guys,
My Son got his leaners licence last year when he turned 16; The next day we were going to go practice at an abandoned lot not far from our house; and well he reversed my wife's Lexus is350 into our rendered brick letterbox.... Hes now turned 17 and had his licence for a year with just 30 hours of his log book complete. The only reason he has even done 30 hours is because we booked him in for lessons. I refuse to pay $60 for driving lessons that no longer equal to 1:3 ratio in his logbook especially when my son dosen't like the instructor and is apparently dosing off in the passenger seat during lessons.... He is really keen to get his P's and All his mates have their licences and he's furious at us for not taking him driving, and I don't blame him.... Neither my wife or Myself are game to let him drive our cars again so just yesterday I chipped in towards the many thousands he had saved over the years from working to buy him a Cruze. We decided on the Cruze as it is a safe reliable car that we hope will serve him for many years to come. Im going to be extremely brave and take him out. What should I start off with? ....Also what's a good way to build up hours? 70 hours really sounds really dwelling....

Thanks Greg

[sweefu]

You bought him a brand new Cruze? Lucky!! Where are you located? Go on a few highway trips.

[wraith]

He's old enough to work. Tell him get a job at maccas and he can pay for his own driving lessons.

[HSV5L]

How long nsw do you have to be on Ls? cheers.

[HoZy]

No offence, But no confidence in your son and treating him like a little bitch will only end badly...

Short drives add up, Why not go to the markets on a Sunday? Go for random "adventure" drives... You'll both have fun.


...Bond with him

[Sabbath']

So lets get this straight:

First time out he crashed
He's angry at YOU because he hasnt shown the initiative to get his hours up
You're paying for his driving lessons
You bought him a brand new car, when in possibly one of his only other driving experiences he crashed
.....

Does he wear the pants around the house or something?
Do his arms and legs not work?
Why hasnt HE been more pro-active in getting his hours up, getting his first car and getting his lessons sorted?

[Verynice]

you dont want to pay $60 a lesson, but you buy him a brand new car? ohhh mannnn...

[VKCOMMO]

Hey Guys,
My Son got his leaners licence last year when he turned 16; The next day we were going to go practice at an abandoned lot not far from our house; and well he reversed my wife's Lexus is350 into our rendered brick letterbox.... Hes now 17 and had his licence for a year with just 30 hours of his log book complete. The only reason he has even done 30 hours is because we booked him in for lessons. Call me tight but I refuse to pay $60 for driving lessons that no longer equal to 1:3 ratio in his logbook.... He is really keen to get his P's and All his mates have their licences and he's furious at us, and I don't blame him.... Neither my wife or Myself are game to let him drive our cars again so just yesterday I bought him a Cruze and Im going to be extremely brave and take him out. What should I start off with? ....Also what's a good way to build up hours? 70 hours really sounds really dwelling....

Thanks Greg

OKay then, I will call you tight.. You have a brand new lexus, and just bought your son a brand new cruze, but you dont want to pay for driving lessons that will one day save your sons life.. Driving Instructors aren't just people you pay to sit there to supervise your kid driving, they teach them more than you could ever teach them.. Even if you dont put him through all of the rest of his hours, atleast put him with them for some of the time..

As for where to start, dont put him on major roads to begin with, take him in quiet back streets and area's where he can stuff up (because he is a learner, he will) and not distroy anything..

Id say, by far though, organise something with an instructor.. Maybe even aim to have one professional lesson for every 10 hours of driving, just to keep him up to date, as he will learn bad habits from you (not saying that you are a crap driver, saying that everyone develops bad habits throughout the years and it isnt good for a brand new driver to be doing..)

One thing not to do, put him on the highway for the hours needed and thats it, because he will learn shit.. He will know exactly what to do in that stretch of road, but will crap his pants in high traffic situations.. Almost anyone can drive down a highway, but it takes concentration to drive in high traffic (both vehicle and pedestrian area's)..

To sum it all up, call an instructor and tee up a lesson, then afterwards have a chat to the instructor and ask him what needs improvement, and where you should take him driving... Make sure you book another lesson (even if it is for 3 weeks away) when you're there or else you will put it off (i do the same when I do my flying lessons, if I dont book another lesson when im paying for mine, I end up leaving it weeks and weeks on end)

[VT_SS]

Like all of the above, you know what has been said is true. My first car was a Datsun 180b and believe it or not i was stoked with it and i worked for it.

[Low06VZ]

I agree with the above statements. I purchased my own first car, a 1995 EF - ex Ballarat taxi. My dad started by getting me to drive around our small town at first, then along the highway. After so long he had me drive into larger populated areas. Then not far from my P's we used to go out to the very quiet country roads (mainly gravel) and he taught me how to regain control of the car through a variety of semi controlled manuavers.

I got a total of 360hrs in the end. As for your son hitting the mail box on his first drive, he probably had no idea of where the corners of the car were, how it would handle and what it would go like. Accidents happen mate, just be glad it wasn't a major one.

[me&myVZ]

I'd like to point out my son does have a job hence why he would like me to help him get his hours up so he can drive himself to work. He has been working since he was 14 and has saved quite a few thousand dollars and I chipped in the rest to buy him the Cruze.... I was more then happy to pay for his lessons and did pay for 10 of them. He has been constantly been asking my wife and I to take him out and I'm just to scared after the Lexus vs Letterbox incident. So it's our fault he hasn't got his hours up. I would rather My son learn to drive in a newer safer car for both of our safety!!

[Darren_L]

bad move buying your son a new or near new car.... but I think everyone else has already covered that, so no point dwelling

best thing you can do is for you to get behind the wheel and drive your son out to a location where there isn't any traffic and not much to hit. Then swap seats and start teaching him the basics. Once he builds up some confidence in the basics, then start taking him into more populated areas until his confidence builds. By that stage, he should be capable of driving in some traffic.

Best way to get his hours up, is to get him to drive whenever you need to go somewhere. Take him in the traffic and the highways and you'll be surprised how quickly the hours add up

[Drawnnite]

my old man was like. your either driving *throws me keys* or you can walk...
you can understand what option i took. might be something to consider
1st drive, on my bday with the L's as i live sorta outta town was on deserted roads, was great fun and 15mins straight up =P


got over 140hrs logged in 6 months.
next 18 months then sucked, but no logbook to fill out =P (2 yrs L's vic)
(also got P's on bday aswell =P)

tbh the only way to drive is get experience.
if you get nervous/hate others driving, find someonelse who will take them (say grandad/ma aunt/uncle)
everyone makes mistakes. but still a brand new car to learn in is a bad idea in my opinion.
tbh a small car such as an old rolla in my opinion is a great choice. its the first manual i learnt in, easy to park, had no get up and go, and runs on the smell of a rag.
oh and its a cheap car to buy. insure and everything else.

[me&myVZ]

Once again I just wanted a safe car to teach my son in. I live in an area that you have to travel quite a distance down the highway to get to anywhere so a newer safer car in my opinion is the way to go. Id rather it get scratched then my Commodore or my Wife's Lexus but Im positive that, that won't happen and everything is going to go great. Now I've explained the situation can we get back to the original question of what / how to teach my son?
Thanks Greg

[VKCOMMO]

I'd like to point out my son does have a job hence why he would like me to help him get his hours up so he can drive himself to work. He has been working since he was 14 and has saved quite a few thousand dollars and I chipped in the rest to buy him the Cruze.... I was more then happy to pay for his lessons and did pay for 10 of them. He has been constantly been asking my wife and I to take him out and I'm just to scared after the Lexus vs Letterbox incident. So it's our fault he hasn't got his hours up. I would rather My son learn to drive in a newer safer car for both of our safety!!

Well toss him in for some more driving lessons until you are comfortable driving with him...

One thing I forgot to add in also, dont just sit there and tell him what to do, get in the drivers seat and demonstrate, he can then relate to how it was done, and will take more in..

[VT_SS]

If your scared to be in the car with your son he is going to pick up on that and it will show in his confidence in controling the vehicle have some confidence in him.

[Drawnnite]

Well toss him in for some more driving lessons until you are comfortable driving with him...

One thing I forgot to add in also, dont just sit there and tell him what to do, get in the drivers seat and demonstrate, he can then relate to how it was done, and will take more in..

totally agree by lead by example.
also a comfortable driving position is great. from my reading/experiences having it so you can push clutch pedal (imagine there is one if there isnt) in with a bit of knee flex left and at full arm stretch your wrist sits on top of steering wheel.
dont let him lounge back too much like the "typical p plater" does.
and dont let him sit waaaay to cloose so your driving with your chin, neither are good practice, and cause issues.

also the worst thing you can do is "freak out" or yell or whatever.
it scares them and makes more tension = more mistakes = more yelling etc.
some occasional advice such as "maybe you should be a bit further back" or other helpful advice is great.

also turn the radio/other distractions off. (until you are comfortable with the driving)
such as phones/gps's and everything.
the less to be distracted by the better.

my old man was like this (except radio because it didnt do anything for me) and it was great.
he sat back and if he could see something coming up that i couldnt see, or any small advice, he would give it to me and let me know.

[me&myVZ]

As for the lessons Brendan dosen't like his instructor and want's me to teach him to drive. Im more then happy to do so, but for any parent's particularly when hes our 'Only Child' it's bloody scary!! He's the most important thing we have and I couldn't give two shit's about spending a few extra $ that in turn if things turned to shit would save his life. Im going to be full of confidence when we head out on the weekend and I just wanted a few pointers before we set off, not a debate as to what car I should have got him!

[VRCALAISS]

no he's going to hate you more for getting him a cruze an not a commodore,i'd put myself up for adoption if my folks done that to me.

[wraith]

Parent's teaching kid's is a bad idea. Can lead to so many dramas. I would find him a new instructor.

[me&myVZ]

Hahaha No chance was I letting him get a Commodore!

[Verynice]

lol, lets be honest, cruzes are shit. id rather drive any commodore from the 90s, for the rest of my life, than have a cruze as a first car

[me&myVZ]

Well that's my intentions!.... I don't like the instructor either but I give him credit for what he does. However $60 x 70 hours = $4200 and this bloke is apparently just sitting there and dosing off. I like the idea of teaching him to drive myself but once you sit in that passenger seat it's scary! But Im going to be brave for him on Saturday and hopefully knock a few hours off and let him do a few lessons before he takes the test so he can ask questions etc.

[FstStig]

Wow you come onto here asking how to teach your son how to drive? May I ask how you got a license in the first place?

[VZ_SS]

If your scared maybe go to quieter streets, or have a bit of faith in him. Everyone I know had their old man teach them to drive. Wouldn't waste my time with an instructor