Last week the coaching tip was about the student accepting the responsibility of letting their parents know what they were thinking by asking questions. This week is about the responsibility that the parent accepts when teaching the student to drive. This may or may not come as a surprise, but the parent actually accepts quite a bit of responsibility.
As the instructor, the parent is actually responsible for everything that happens during the in-vehicle lesson. Accepting that responsibility is an important part of being the in-vehicle instructor. When you accept responsibility for what goes on during the lesson, it makes it easier to find ways to do it better. It won’t be perfect (nothing ever is), but when you know and accept that you’re responsible for a task, it’s a natural tendency to want to perform that task as well as you can. Accepting responsibility for what happens in the vehicle during a lesson doesn’t just take the pressure off your teenager, it helps you be a better instructor.
Watch this video to see Patrick Barrett, the Driver Education Guru, talk more about the parent’s responsibility as an in-vehicle instructor.