Teaching my wife to drive

[tracyandoksana 0]

any comments :

[Mirorgate 0]

any comments :

Sears Student Driver program.

Other than that... if you say its straining to teach your wife to drive, then i'll take your word for it. B)

[Fuzzness 2]

If it's straining for you then you probably aren't a good teacher. It's a safety issue. Get a real instructor.

[ChristinaM 0]

DON'T DO IT!!!

It's hard to learn from someone you care about, it's hard to be objective and it can create a lot of bad feeling.

[mawilson 2,133]

any comments :

Are you teaching Tracy or Oksana? or both? and who are you?

[SmileyGuy 0]

I would suggest enrolling the new driver in a drivers school if that is possible for both of you. They can teach things better than most other people and neither of you guys will get anxiety or other negative feelings when one person is telling the other what to do and how to do it all the time. It can be difficult and emotionally straining for the new driver, no need to add your relationship into the mix. Better to let a 3rd party do it. Then you guys don't have to worry about strained feelings which may result.

If it's straining for you then you probably aren't a good teacher. It's a safety issue. Get a real instructor.

Yes, good comments. It is also about safety and they can teach much better. No matter how good of a driver we think we are we will miss some things. It may not be on purpose, but as most of us have grown up around driving in cars all our lives we understand a lot of the nuances of driving and probably won't communicate them as well as a professional trainer.

[switroy 0]

When I was learning how to drive with my hubby, it was really bad. We both had bad feelings after each lesson so we decided to hire a professional driving instructor. Some people say "Spouses ae the worst driving instructors"

[peejay 327]

I had 2 student drivers to teach. It drove me nuts, but we survived. My wife was 43 years old at the time and had never driven or owned an automobile. My stepdaughter was 18 years old at the time and had never driven. I eventually ended up sending my stepdaughter to driving school at the recommendation of my insurance carrier. The insurance discounts and the fact that she didn't have to take a driving test after completion of the course made it desirable. In Texas she got a certificate from the school and just went to the TxDOT to pay the license fee and had her photo taken. No driving test. My wife would not get any insurance discounts, so I taught her until she was ready to take the driving test. She passed on the first try. I was surprised because I saw many in the waiting line return to the staging area at TxDOT and were failed that day.

It was stressful and there were some hurt feeling occassionally, but we survived. Even with my stepdaughter in driving school, I spent many evenings with both my wife and stepdaughter while they practiced on their learner's permit.

My wife and step daughter have had licenses for about 1 1/2 years now. I have been driving for 34 years. I can see they still need a lot more practice because they just don't have enough experience. They still scare the ####### out of me from time to time.

[tom&tata 2]

I had my dad taught me how to drive (yes, loong time ago). It was not a plesant experience for both of us - we only had 1 session and the next day I went to driving school.

[Marilyn. 340]

my mom taught me how to drive when she was pregnant with one of my younger sibs.... YIKES!! that was an interesting experience...

I did take about 8 lessons but that was mainly so that we could use the driving instructors car for the road test, the family car was a big old station wagon

Edited March 2, 2006 by MarilynP

[cyph0r 0]

My husband tried to teach me to drive but could not explain the basics to me and we ended up getting frustrated with each other. so he roped in his dad. My father in law having had experience of teaching his 2 kids (including my dear husband) was a much better teacher. Once I got more confident, my husband would sit in the car with me while I drove.

I passed 4mths later on my first try

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

When I was learning how to drive with my hubby, it was really bad. We both had bad feelings after each lesson so we decided to hire a professional driving instructor. Some people say "Spouses ae the worst driving instructors"

I'm so glad it's not just us. I can teach Nani the easy things but she'll need a professional instructor with dual controls for the road. She doesn't have the confidence level to get into traffic no matter how well she does on the empty parking lot and no matter how much I encourage her. We've tried it a few times down in Nashville and there was some arguing going on most every time we did.

We resolved that once she's through the roughs with the pregnancy, she wants to take some paid lessons with an instructor that most habesha (read: Ethiopian and Eritrean) people here in town have trained for their license with.

[minha_raposa 0]

My wife is 32 and is in the process of learning to drive now. First I tried to teach her in my toyota truck with a stick...not a good thing so I paid for her to have driving lessons and the a private instructor who was very patient. In January I bought her a car and she got her driver's license. Although she has her license, she is not a very good or confident driver so she really only goes the 3 miles to work or 1 mile to the store...essentially straight lines. However, she just had a job interview downtown and encountered many one-ways, do not enters, and 5-way stops! I've spent every day since last Sunday riding with her back and forth to get her accustomed to the traffic and roads. She did just fine apparently (maybe pissed a few folks off but hey...)

The ONE trick I use that really works (and may give you a little patience and) is a forked steel rod that I place on the brake petal stem (above the foot pad) that allows me to control the brake by hand from the passenger side if it is necessary. We use this tool in the Southwest to turn on lawn sprinkler. Looks something like this:

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Good luck!

[onwa 6]

My dad taught me to drive and I taught my husband how to drive. Patience runs in the family. My husband's a pretty good driver (does all driving now and we live in he city) But, he had a pretty good teacher!

[Miranda&James 8]

DON'T DO IT!!!

It's hard to learn from someone you care about, it's hard to be objective and it can create a lot of bad feeling.

DITTO!! I know I'm not good teaching people I know and love, I'm too impatient with them. Definitely best to get a trained instructor who isn't emotionally attached!

My Grandfather taught my mom, aunt, and brother to drive and they're still scarred from the experience today I escaped his wrath