Your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has just granted someone you know – a teen, an adult friend or family member – with a learner driving permit. They can now legally drive a passenger vehicle on the road providing another person over the age of 21 with a full license of an equivalent class is sitting alongside them offering guidance and support.

That person is probably going to be you.

More than likely you’re confident you can show them what they need to learn because you’ve been driving for years.  If the prospect of helping them learn to drive is a little daunting you still won’t say “no” because the last thing you want to do is let them down. Whether you’re confident or apprehensive the fact of the matter is one way or another you’re going to sit in that passenger seat and do your best to help, right?

And that’s the perfect question to begin with.

Helping someone learn to drive doesn’t need to be a hair raising event for anyone involved. With forethought, mutual discussion, expectation management, constant feedback between all involved, plenty of calm, patience, and a lot of driving repetition, the process of learning to drive can actually be quite enjoyable. If your driver is experiencing intense driving stress it is your job to help them calm down and gain perspective.  How do you do this? By constantly staying calm, steering clear of fear based talk, alerting fellow drivers with Student Driver signs, and being the perfect driving role model for them to mirror.

The common mistake many people make when asked to provide such help is to immediately assume the role of “Driving Instructor”. Yes, you will be assisting your learner by providing instructions but you should remind yourself that you are not their driving instructor.

Driving Instructors are classroom certified. Their qualifications are obtained by extensive study and demonstration of a variety of driving and driver training techniques, both physical and psychological. They must pass rigid DMV driver instructor examinations that include safe vehicle handling, personal medicals, applying first aid at the scene of a motor vehicle accident, how to conduct vehicle safety inspections and much more. In other words, unless you are a certified Driving Instructor, you’re not one. In fact, your learner driver may already have one or be planning to hire one. Either way, they don’t need another one.

Click This Link For More Tips On Teaching To Drive Driving