DX-MAN

RULE #1: When the engine's on, the cell phone ISN'T.
RULE #2: Anyone on the road is capable of the most stupid, rude, and thoughtless thing you can imagine right on front of you at any time.
RULE #3: Getting back home ALIVE and in one piece is more important than who goes where FIRST.
RULE #4: I'M teaching you, your friends aren't -- they have nothing they CAN teach you, so don't listen to them.
RULE #5: Give me the keys, we're not doing this. (lol)

prathmann

6 car lengths (about 100') is too little room for safety at highway speeds although it might be sufficient in slower city traffic. At 70 mph, you cover 100' in just under one second - note the suggestions above to use a minimum of a two second gap and preferably a three or four second gap. I.e. leaving 12 to 24 car lengths at that speed.

DnvrFox

The advantage of the 2/3/4 second gap is that it adjusts the distance to the car in front sort of automatically. Also, it gives you breathing room to slow down more slowly for the idiot 3 feet behind you.

I always learned to have an escape route. That escape route can be the distance in front of you.

Retro Grouch 

Well this has been fun. Actually, I used to teach people to drive professionally but it's been a pretty long time. I taught my daughters too, but the boys just seemed to learn by osmosis.

I'm not sure how to say ANYTHING to my grand-daughter. Mostly we communicate with texts and we definitely won't be doing that in the car. I'm looking forward to it. You can play with the grand-kids when they're little. When they get to a certain age, any interaction at all with them is a bonus so I'm looking forward to this driver training. Then - at some point they come out the other side and you can interact with them at as adults. For example, my 20 year old grand-daughter chose having dinner out with us as her birthday gift.

Being a grand dad rocks!

Jseis 

Egad. I'll never forget the first time I went driving with my step daughter. I had her start the engine. Put the Expedition in reverse. Let off brake and let engine idle back it out. She promptly cranks the wheel to the left so the front swings right, catches the mirror on the garage center column and pins the tire against the support. Then she panics and hits the throttle. Damn near tore the garage down but she had no head of steam. I reached over and turned the engine off I asked her why she turned the wheel? Cause Mom always does.

Well....the SO does do that because she angles in to give the Expedition door a few more opening inches, then corrects on backing out. Sorta funny now. Not then. Cost a 200$ mirror and an afternoon of carpentry.

Artmo 

+1001!!!!

John_V 

I got a bunch of premature gray hairs when I taught my daughter to drive. If I didn't have any high blood pressure when she started, I certainly did while teaching her to drive. Teaching their three boys to drive is something I leave to her and her husband. Don't want any part of that.

Retro Grouch 

So far it's been going very well. We've been working on basic car control, including parallel parking, in the soccer park parking lot. There's a lot to be said for knowing when to start turning the steering wheel and how much. Sydney actually pays attention when I tell her something.

Next lesson we're heading out into the neighborhood. After she gains confidence doing that, we'll tackle some multi-lane roads. We've already practiced 4 things to do every time you make a lane change.

RollinGeezer

Impress upon her the great responsiblity she is being entrusted with. Teach her to concentrate, to keep her eyes moving, to always know what's going on way in front of her, beside her and behind her. I always taught my girls that if they ever touched the brake on the freeway, someone screwed up, and they had to explain to me who did what wrong and what they should have done. After a short time, it was rarely them. I taught them to look down the road, not at the car in front of them. Also told them that driving in town requires much more concentration than the freeway. Probably the most important thing, was to always leave early. If they were late, then a few more minutes wouldn't make any difference. Never hurry.

DnvrFox

1. Close your eyes

2. Send a text message

3. Swat that bee flying around in the car

4. Turn the wheel real fast so you aren't exposed to so much danger.

At least that's how they do it around here

trackhub

My 2¢:

-Driving is serious business. It demands your un-divided attention.
-Leave the cell phone off, or just let calls go to voice mail, until you have parked. NO EXCEPTIONS! There is no defense for driving and yakking.
-When stopped behind another vehicle at light, stay far enough behind it so you can see its tires on the pavement. (When DID they stop teaching this?)
-When merging onto a highway, get up to proper speed. No stopping on the ramp. The old expression, "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen", applies here.
-Kitchens and restaurants are for eating, not the car.
-Bathrooms and beauty parlors are for fixing your hair, makeup, etc. Not the car. (This applies to males as well) *
-When parking, center the vehicle in the space. Respect the property of the person in the next space. (When did they stop teaching this?)
-And finally... Bicycles are vehicles, with every right to be on the road. That is the law. Your "Cool Friends" opinions are not the law.

And that is all I have at the moment.

* Uh, I have yet to see a female brushing her teeth while driving, but I have observed several males doing this. No, I'm not joking. Gotta be a sign of the end times.

gcottay

I'd tell her you are willing to help her study for the written test so she can get it perfect but love her way too much to take her out behind the wheel. That's what I should have done two farm field excursions, one front yard intrusion and many close calls ago. I thought experience gained in teaching emergency driving skills would help. It didn't.

Retro Grouch 

There seems to be a trend of suggestions to pay somebody else to teach my grand daughter to drive.

Isn't that kind of like paying somebody else to assemble your new bicycle for you? What fun would that be? How would you know if they did it right?

Retro Grouch 

Grand daughter told her mom yesterday that mom was holding the steering wheel wrong.
1. Grand daughter really is listening to what I'm telling her.
2. My evil plan for bugging the mom by proxy is working.
Life is good.

BikeOnly

Hopefully you have a nice kart track nearby - the adult size karts that are fairly fast.

Take her there a couple of times per week (Maybe she is already skilled at this?) until she gets comfortable with driving close and fast with other drivers nearby.

Of course then she still has to learn to drive a real car among other real drivers.