Driver's Training Has Driven Me Crazy!

Most parents of teenagers and beyond have been through the "joys" of driver training. I just completed my second bout of that and I thank God everyday that I never have to go through it again.

When I was a new driver I used to get extremely annoyed with my mother's nervous sound effects and the way she would extend her arms out in front of her every time I stepped on the brake. I swore I would never do that to my child but I learned the hard way that it is utterly unavoidable. It is the result of putting your life and your children's lives into the hands of a brand new teen-aged driver. Many many times I found myself bracing for an impact that fortunately never came or praying over and over that my impending death would come quickly and I wouldn't have to suffer long.

This behavior was a result of many near-death (or at least near-crash) experiences. Not long after my oldest daughter, Laura, received her learner's permit, I allowed her to drive me and her younger sister home from a school event one evening. We stopped at an intersection and she prepared to turn left onto the highway by looking to her left, then looking to her right, then pulling out in front of a very small MG. The tiny car clipped our left bumper every so slightly as I screamed "LAURA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The other driver pulled over to the side of the road and we did the same on our side. I asked her why she didn't look to the left before turning and she replied "I did!!!! Oh, yeah, I was supposed to do it twice." Seconds later the driver of the other car came running at us and I thought we were surely deadmeat. But his only concern was that WE were alright. Miraculously, there was no damage to either vehicle and we went on our way with Laura having learned a very important lesson: avoid left turns at all cost.

Over the next year or so we had other close calls and moments of embarrassment. There was the time she cut short a right turn and pulled onto the newly sodded lawn of our bank, instead of onto the street. She then crawled into the backseat and hid so that all the passing cars with their curious onlookers inside saw only me sitting there looking like an idiot.

When my youngest daughter, Rebecca, started driver training I thought I was now a seasoned veteran and would handle the experience more efficiently and with more grace this time around. WRONG!! She, like her sister Laura before her, frequently expressed her annoyance with my verbalizations of distress and the way I would cling onto the handle over the passenger door for dear life. "Mom stop it!!!" is usually what I would hear but it was completely out of my control.

Rebecca had her own close calls on the highways and byways, including merging onto the freeway at 40 miles per hour in front of traffic coming up behind us at 70 miles per hour. There was also the time she rounded a curve at too fast of a speed and came inches from side swiping the Cadillac Escalade next to us. I took the blame for the time she backed too far out of our driveway and right into our neighbor's mailbox. However, other than a couple of minor fender benders we escaped relatively unscathed.

Another source of anxiety for parents of children in this age group comes AFTER they receive their license and are now driving the streets alone. Now you have the fear of danger coming to your child when you aren't there. How many times did my stomach ache listening to sirens off in the distance when one of my girls was off with the car? What is far worse is when your fears are actually realized. I'll never forget the phone call I received one October night that began with "Mom!!!! I just flipped the Jeep!!!!" It took me a moment to comprehend what she was saying but once I did learned my youngest had rolled my Jeep Cherokee after her tires had gotten pulled into some thick sand in the road. She had overcompensated with the wheel and the entire Jeep had ended up on its roof on the side of the road. Fortunately, neither my newly licensed 16 year old nor her passenger friend were injured but I shudder to think of how it could have turned out. My oldest had her own close call when she rear ended the car in front of her at an intersection. It's amazing how much damage a slow speed crash can do to a vehicle.

My hope is that time will teach this mom to let go and allow God to protect my children now that they're both licensed drivers and spend a lot of time behind the wheel. So far that hasn't happened but I'm hopeful still.