Wish me luck...my daughter got her drivers license today...Yikes!

[VanRiver]

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, today was my daughters 16th birthday and she successfully passed her drivers license test. She is now a fully licensed and insured driver with wheels.....but with a whole lot of "Dad rules" to follow.

 

I'm reaching out to my "Venture Support Group" to keep me from worrying too much as I would assume many of you have already crossed this bridge with your own kids. I'm very fortunate as she is a great kid and a pretty good driver...but a Dad always worries...right?

 

I find it so ironic that when you are old like me 16 sounds too young to be driving a car.....but when I was 16 it felt like an eternity to finally drive.

 

[Edbo]

Been there done that. She will be alright, but it is hard to let them grow up.

[videoarizona]

Been there, done that...twice! Both girls...and yes it's hard to watch them drive away for the first time by themselves to go do something.

BUT, when the first kidlet got her license...she didn't have a cell phone...so it was really hard on me. I had a pager at the time...and she did have that number. Second kidlet was much easier...I could simply call her and find out where she was, etc..

 

You and she will be fine!

 

Hang in there, Dad....

[Flyinfool]

You could always put a tracking app on her phone so that you always know where, when and how fast.

 

Yup there was no such thing as a cell phone when my 3 girls learned to drive. The worst is when they are even 1 minute late from when they were supposed to be somewhere, that is where you get to start spinning in circles.

[bj66]

My daughter just passed her drivers ed. class. She will be able to get her license in October when she turns 14 here in South Dakota. The first 3 months she has to drive with either my wife or myself in the car. After that she can drive from sun up until sun down until she turns 16. Then she can go on her own with no limitations. She is the 3rd and last kid in our family so I am used to it. We are pretty rural here, and the thing that worries me most is her swerving to miss a deer and hitting the ditch....

[cowpuc]

WOW ZZZZZZ WOW WOW WOW - GETTING YOUNGER EVERY YEAR AREN'T THEY!! Tell that precious daughter of yours ol Pucster said HAPPY HAPPY SWEET 16 :Happy Birthday::Happy Birthday:

and a HUGE congrats on getting her license will ya Riv!! GOOD JOB young lady!!

 

x4 for this !!! 3 girls and a boy - gotta say, at least in our lives - my girls were the safer drivers of the bunch. My son tended to have a heavier foot, like to do some crazier stuff (Tip always pulled the old "apple doesn't fall far from the tree" routine on me.. They are all now good drivers (still know things can happen though) and have all at one time or another came back and thanked me many times for teaching them my "biking rules of the road".. A few of my favorites are:

1. Intersections are the most dangerous places on the planet - take LOTS of pictures (look both ways) - always watch for hub cap movement of cars at stop signs - even if you have the right of way stop and let em go first if they are in that big of a hurry.

2. Absolutely NO cell phone or texting usage while driving.

3. Never be afraid to tell a passenger who is with you to stop talking when it's necessary to do so - their safety is YOUR responsibility whether they like it or not.

4. Give Semi's LOTS of elbow room - dont cut em off, dont tail gate em, let someone else be the one to get caught having to travel beside them - LET THEM OWN THE ROAD CAUSE THEY DO!!

5. ALWAYS DO THAT QUICK HEAD CHECK!

6. DO NOT swerve for animals - brake when safe yes, swerve no! (this was a toughy cause my kids had pets all there lives)

7. NEVER EVER GET CAUGHT UP IN ROAD RAGE - WHEN THAT APPEARS IT'S UGLY FACE JUST SLOW DOWN AND LET EM GO!!

8. I am PROUD of you sweetheart (talking to my kids and your daughter here) and trust you 100% to drive sober and alert but your the only one out there who I do, sooner or later you are going to under stand why that is so..

 

Riv,, in my case - I never did get over the heebie jeebies when they pulled out of the yard on their first solo flight - right to the last one.. Maybe its just some kind of character flaw on my part.. It did get easier over time though - just took a while...

 

YOU GOT MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS UP BROTHER!!!

Edited June 30, 2016 by cowpuc
Forgot to tell Riv he has my thoughts and PRAYERS UP!

[djh3]

I pitty you. I can only slightly remember them days. LOL My son drove my F150 for awhile before we found him his own car. I remember our insurance being high as heck. Good luck

[DblTrbl]

Find a way to ground her and remove her driving privilege until she is 18!! lol

[BG Hawks]

Been there and done that twice! Now my youngest turn 16 takes drivers ed next week and than his license. I'll be honest, I still worry about my 21 and 19 year old. Not so much them but all idiots on the road. Scares me of all the texting and driving I see.

[zagger]

Good Luck!

My daughter totaled our minivan when she first started driving. Pulled out in front of someone, who then put a deep, car sized imprint into the side of the van. No one hurt. That was 10 years ago, and she has safely driven ever since that first smashup. My son started driving a few years ago and eventually bought his own pickup truck. Good thing too - he ran into the back end of someone waiting to turn and crunched the front bumper, grill, hood, etc. Since he didn't have collision insurance, it took some work with a winch and installing a new hood to make the truck almost as good as new - if you squint your eyes! And don't notice that the headlights are attached with wire ties and the hood color doesn't match the rest of the truck. I'm hoping that experience stuck deep into his head since he now also has a motorcycle.

Best wishes,

zag

[BigLenny]

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, today was my daughters 16th birthday and she successfully passed her drivers license test. She is now a fully licensed and insured driver with wheels.....but with a whole lot of "Dad rules" to follow.

 

I'm reaching out to my "Venture Support Group" to keep me from worrying too much as I would assume many of you have already crossed this bridge with your own kids. I'm very fortunate as she is a great kid and a pretty good driver...but a Dad always worries...right?

 

I find it so ironic that when you are old like me 16 sounds too young to be driving a car.....but when I was 16 it felt like an eternity to finally drive.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]106001[/ATTACH]

 

VanRiver,

 

I remember those days. Did it 3 times with my daughter and 2 sons. Exciting times in more ways than 1.

 

Lemme give you little piece of information and advise. She's gonna wreck it. I know, I know, she's a good girl, and precious, and does great in school, and kind hearted, and not wild, and all those things us parents say about our beautiful daughters. But, she's gonna wreck it. I'm not saying it's gonna be a major crash, good Lord, lets pray that doesn't happen. But, your gonna come home from work and notice a big scrape on some part of the vehicle, or she's gonna slow speed rear end someone while she's talking to one of her friends, or run over a parking lot curb and dent the roller panel, or something like that. That's the information I wanted to give you.

 

The advise I want to give you is; DON"T FREAK OUT ABOUT IT! Trust me, it doesn't help matters one bit. Lol.

 

BigLenny

[VanRiver]

Thank you everyone for your insight and experience on the subject, I always know I'm walking down the path that so many of you have already blazed the trail! That is why I know I can always turn to my "Venture Support Group"!

@Flyinfool and @videoarizona - Yes I couldn't agree more, the invention of the Cell phone is such an amazing thing for situations like this compared to the "old days". Times are so different compared to when I was her age, I was teaching her how to change a tire on the car the other day and both Mom and her said "why would she ever need to do that, can't she just call the auto club or use the the Auto club app on her iPhone to have someone come out and do it for her?".....I was a bit miffed by that way of thinking....but really didn't have a good comeback aside from "well what if she doesn't have cell service and actually needs to get her hands dirty!"

@cowpuc - thanks for 8 "Rules" they will be passed along and are already being enforced!

@djh3 - yes don't even get me started about the cost....only break I got on the insurance cost is because she is a girl. Boys can't be trusted as far as you can throw them with a motorized vehicle!!! Ha HA!

 

@zagger and @BigLenny - Thanks for the pep talk about "She's going to wreck it"! I know you are right on the money with that statement.....that is why I have her driving an old 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid instead of a fancy new vehicle. So many of her friends got fancy new cars right off the bat which totally baffles me why some parents would do that as the first car needs to be safe, earned by the kid, and not a big loss when it gets damaged. I will try to follow the "Don't Freak out" part.....as for her Mom I'm not sure if she will be able to if and when the time comes!

Edited June 30, 2016 by VanRiver

[cecdoo]

When my daughter got her license I thought she deserved a little gift, so I got her a garmin nuvi for her car. She really loved it... untill the day she returned from a trip to see her boyfriend in College. The neat thing about that garmin is it keeps track of a whole lot of data, including miles traveled etc etc. It also records top speed, and hers happened to be 105mph on that trip. She was the same as your daughter, good girl, sensible, great grades, but unfortunately she got my "need for speed" gene. We had alittle talk and never saw that top speed above 70 again.

Good Luck, Craig

[cowpuc]

Your welcome brother!! God bless and keep your precious daughter safe out there!!

 

I was teaching her how to change a tire on the car the other day and both Mom and her said "why would she ever need to do that, can't she just call the auto club or use the the Auto club app on her iPhone to have someone come out and do it for her?".....I was a bit miffed by that way of thinking....but really didn't have a good comeback aside from "well what if she doesn't have cell service and actually needs to get her hands dirty!"

 

 

I hear ya Riv - being the "Dad" is never an easy road...

My kids grew up having Cars for go-carts.. Even the girls got dirty from time to time doing the tire swapping thing and all that.. Two of those "kids" are now living and working out in California. One day I am in the shower and my wife storms in the bathroom - opens the shower door and - with that evil eye look on her face that tells me I am in BIG trouble - hands me the phone and says "your daughters want to talk to you!!"..

Shut off the water, and hear my daughters voice ask "Dad,, what tools would we need to buy to swap out the brake pads on T.C.'s Aspire?" - of course, being the curious type of Dad I am - before I answered I asked why she asked? Her and her sister then began to tell me about this little trip to Portland they had decided to do for the weekend, were going thru the MOUNTAINS and discovered that my older daughters car had decided it was a good time to finish off a set of its front pads... Of course I said "ohhhh no,,, aint no way I am gonna have any part of this - I will pay for you to take it to a brake shop and get it done RIGHT!!".. My daughters then begin to explain to me that they pulled into an Auto Repair place as soon as they had heard that familiar worn pad sound and it was across the street from a Wally World. She said the guy who ran the shop said he would not be able to look at it until the next day, after selling them a set of pads he locked the doors and left even though my daughter tried to explain to him she had to be back at the Hospital by 6 a.m... She then reminded me of how many times they had helped me swap out the brakes on our go-cart Festiva's and began to tell me how similar in design the Aspire brakes were:doh:.. I tried to explain that playing on the two tracks with those old cars was totally different than knowing my girls were driving in the MOUNTAINS with new brakes that I had had no chance to double check before they headed out... Had me over the barrel though - a real bind so to speak..

I caved,,,, sent them to Wally World for a C-Clamp/Needle Nose Pliers and a jack stand (they already had the car jacked up and a wheel off).. Spent the evening listening to my daughters tell me step by step as they slid the new pads in - made sure they called periodically while on the way thru the mountains. Girls did a fine job according to the Mechanic who inspected it later that week, car did fine, kids were fine BUT I still had to pay the trauma of Tips evil eye

[BlueSky]

Good Luck! My daughter promptly wrecked her 85 Chevy Cavalier twice in the first 3 months, totaling it the second time. After 3 months passed I bought an $800 pos 85 Buick Skyhawk that she drove 2 yrs without incident. Then I bought a 92 Pontiac Sunbird that she wrecked and was repaired. My son didn't do too bad. He banged up his 89 Escort but still drove it. My stepson wrecked the 2007 Focus I bought for him. Later I traded it for a 2006 Miata that only had 12k miles on it. Six weeks later he stepped on the gas too hard in the wet and wrecked it hitting another car. The driver of the other car had a bad back so he got a shyster lawyer and sued saying he couldn't work and was living off money borrowed from his family. The Ins co secretly filmed him working on 3 occasions and lifting heavy items. He only wanted the policy limit of $100k and the ins co wouldn't pay. Then he got a back operation that he evidently needed anyhow and my ins co tried to pay him but they wanted $350k now. I hired one of the best lawyers in this field in the state of FL where it happened and eventually the ins co that had mishandled the case so badly paid $250k, $150k more than the policy limit and under the threat of a law suit from my attorney, they paid his fee for me! I was sweating for a year over this fiasco thinking I might lose everything I had. Hope I didn't depress you too bad, but this was my true story.

[VanRiver]

Good for your girls!!!!! And to you as well for giving them the skills and confidence to not let a brake pad replacement stand in their way. I think the world would be in a much better place if more people thought that way!!! But that is just my opinion. Very disappointing that the Brake shop closed up for the night and left them in a lurch!

 

But I agree, a worried Momma Bear is a challenging creature when the perceived safety of thier clubs is in question....but that is what makes them good Momma Bears. Plus "I'm just a silly Man" that thinks differently then girls as I've been told several times before.

 

Puc, similar to your girls, my daughter has her sights set for a carrier in medicine (specifically wanting to be a surgeon). So I tell her that mechanics is very similar to being a doctor, and if you're unable to open a car hood, troubleshoot, find and fix an engine then how will you ever be able open a chest with a scalpel and fix a human ticker someday?

 

But she is much better with the blood and guts part then me....the sight of transmission fluid makes me queasy!

 

 

Girls did a fine job according to the Mechanic who inspected it later that week, car did fine, kids were fine BUT I still had to pay the trauma of Tips evil eye

[Guest divey]

VanRiver,

 

I remember those days. Did it 3 times with my daughter and 2 sons. Exciting times in more ways than 1.

 

Lemme give you little piece of information and advise. She's gonna wreck it. I know, I know, she's a good girl, and precious, and does great in school, and kind hearted, and not wild, and all those things us parents say about our beautiful daughters. But, she's gonna wreck it. I'm not saying it's gonna be a major crash, good Lord, lets pray that doesn't happen. But, your gonna come home from work and notice a big scrape on some part of the vehicle, or she's gonna slow speed rear end someone while she's talking to one of her friends, or run over a parking lot curb and dent the roller panel, or something like that. That's the information I wanted to give you.

 

The advise I want to give you is; DON"T FREAK OUT ABOUT IT! Trust me, it doesn't help matters one bit. Lol.

 

BigLenny

Wow, pessimist much?? You make it sound like it's a given that because she's 16 and just got her license, she's guaranteed to have an accident. Not so I'd say. Doug

[VanRiver]

Wow @BlueSky you sure have been through the ringer with the kids accidents! So sorry to hear about the crushed metal over the years and especially the lawsuit! I bet that put a few grey hairs on your head! What a nightmare! I'm glad to hear that your kids weren't hurt in any of those accidents...cars can be replaced, but not kids!

 

Good Luck! My daughter promptly wrecked her 85 Chevy Cavalier twice in the first 3 months, totaling it the second time. After 3 months passed I bought an $800 pos 85 Buick Skyhawk that she drove 2 yrs without incident. Then I bought a 92 Pontiac Sunbird that she wrecked and was repaired. My son didn't do too bad. He banged up his 89 Escort but still drove it. My stepson wrecked the 2007 Focus I bought for him. Later I traded it for a 2006 Miata that only had 12k miles on it. Six weeks later he stepped on the gas too hard in the wet and wrecked it hitting another car. The driver of the other car had a bad back so he got a shyster lawyer and sued saying he couldn't work and was living off money borrowed from his family. The Ins co secretly filmed him working on 3 occasions and lifting heavy items. He only wanted the policy limit of $100k and the ins co wouldn't pay. Then he got a back operation that he evidently needed anyhow and my ins co tried to pay him but they wanted $350k now. I hired one of the best lawyers in this field in the state of FL where it happened and eventually the ins co that had mishandled the case so badly paid $250k, $150k more than the policy limit and under the threat of a law suit from my attorney, they paid his fee for me! I was sweating for a year over this fiasco thinking I might lose everything I had. Hope I didn't depress you too bad, but this was my true story.

[bj66]

WOW ZZZZZZ WOW WOW WOW - GETTING YOUNGER EVERY YEAR AREN'T THEY!! Tell that precious daughter of yours ol Pucster said HAPPY HAPPY SWEET 16 :Happy Birthday::Happy Birthday:

and a HUGE congrats on getting her license will ya Riv!! GOOD JOB young lady!!

 

x4 for this !!! 3 girls and a boy - gotta say, at least in our lives - my girls were the safer drivers of the bunch. My son tended to have a heavier foot, like to do some crazier stuff (Tip always pulled the old "apple doesn't fall far from the tree" routine on me.. They are all now good drivers (still know things can happen though) and have all at one time or another came back and thanked me many times for teaching them my "biking rules of the road".. A few of my favorites are:

1. Intersections are the most dangerous places on the planet - take LOTS of pictures (look both ways) - always watch for hub cap movement of cars at stop signs - even if you have the right of way stop and let em go first if they are in that big of a hurry.

2. Absolutely NO cell phone or texting usage while driving.

3. Never be afraid to tell a passenger who is with you to stop talking when it's necessary to do so - their safety is YOUR responsibility whether they like it or not.

4. Give Semi's LOTS of elbow room - dont cut em off, dont tail gate em, let someone else be the one to get caught having to travel beside them - LET THEM OWN THE ROAD CAUSE THEY DO!!

5. ALWAYS DO THAT QUICK HEAD CHECK!

6. DO NOT swerve for animals - brake when safe yes, swerve no! (this was a toughy cause my kids had pets all there lives)

7. NEVER EVER GET CAUGHT UP IN ROAD RAGE - WHEN THAT APPEARS IT'S UGLY FACE JUST SLOW DOWN AND LET EM GO!!

8. I am PROUD of you sweetheart (talking to my kids and your daughter here) and trust you 100% to drive sober and alert but your the only one out there who I do, sooner or later you are going to under stand why that is so..

 

Riv,, in my case - I never did get over the heebie jeebies when they pulled out of the yard on their first solo flight - right to the last one.. Maybe its just some kind of character flaw on my part.. It did get easier over time though - just took a while...

 

YOU GOT MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS UP BROTHER!!!

 

Hey Puc, about rule 6. My insurance guy told me awhile ago to never swerve if you are more than likely to hit an animal. In my case that would probably be a deer. Hitting a deer is a no fault accident and your rates shouldn't go up. This happened to a friend of mines son, he swerved, hit the ditch, and rolled. He ended up ok. But when the cops came and he explained what happened, there was no deer there because he missed it and it ran off. So there was no proof that a deer caused it. Now it becomes reckless driving, a fine, and your insurance rates go up. Not to mention you are looking for a new car.

 

Sorry for the hijack, but we could all learn from that, not just a 16 year old

[Venturous Randy]

Young drivers may have a real good understanding of the laws of the road, but they may still be lacking in understanding of the laws of physics. Experience is what makes drivers understand things like wet road traction, both in curves and stopping. I told my son and grandkids that they may get by occasionally violating the laws of the land and not get caught, but when they violate the laws of physics, they will get bit big time.

One suggestion I have is to take a new driver out on a rainy day and find a safe place and have them stop as quickly as possible. They also need to understand how ABS brakes can help. but there are still limitations.

Randy

[saddlebum]

Some body forgot to mention the boots on her feet. They look kinda heavy ......Just Say'n:confused24:

[Kybigmac]

That girl can't be more than 12, have you checked her birth certificate!

[Freebird]

I don't see the issue here. She is a very cute young lady. I would just ride along in the back seat with a shotgun.

[Flyinfool]

I had a case where a 16 yo girl hit the side of my big red truck on here first day with here new license. No one was hurt and there was no damage to my truck and she had a wrinkled fender and a cut tire.

 

Of course the first thing she did was call daddy. Daddy said for her to call 911 and he would be right there.............

That part had me worried, I did not want to deal with a freaked out dad thinking that I tried to hurt his baby girl.

 

The police made it there before daddy and she already admitted to the LEO that she made a lane change and did not notice this big red truck next to her. Her front tire hit my drivers door so I was actually ahead of her. Once Daddy was sure that no one was hurt him and I spent the rest of the time that the LEO was there discussing deer hunting.

Daddy also thought that this should be a learning experience and since I had no damage for her to pay for he insisted that she come to my house and wash and wax my whole truck for my inconvenience. She got a workout that day for sure. There is a lot of surface area on my truck.

 

So while an accident is likely, it is not always going to happen. I had a million miles in before my first accident. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

[Barrycuda]

I don't see the issue here. She is a very cute young lady. I would just ride along in the back seat with a shotgun.

 

I know this is about being focused on the driving. From the looks of the pic, you have a whole lot more to look out for My daughter is only 9 but looks like her mother, which means in about 7 years I am getting Yammer Dan to watch over her when she is out of my sight...