VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions VCCA and your kid

I saw a TV editorial from one of the networks news department criticizing one of the driving schools for teens staffed by race car drivers, they were doing high speed driving , spins, panic stops and evassive driving techniques. The *&(&^% media Anchor commented that 'That training is likely to make teens too agressive and dangerous" Would'nt you know it? Also they complained about the high performance coupes being used, "They should have been learning in a hybrid." pure YUCK, IMHO
exciting you say? Have you had a 1200 HD between your legs, lately?

PBS has been doing a series on cars and safety with Alan Alda...some of the technology is fantastic...some of the experiments with age groups and cell phones, etc were eye opening also.

Some of the future stuff is unbelievable...like the MB that will stop itself at stop signs if the driver doesn't, etc...

Living in a college town and driving on the city streets with them makes me want all of their cars to be driven by a computer instead of them....LOL.

If everyone would just turn off their cell phones and pay attention to driving I would be a lot happier...Thumper prevents me from saying more...

Well MM, sorry to say that not everyone is "always faithful"...Marine assigned to the White House and the Veep for the last 3 years has been arrested for spying for a foreign government. He has been downloading top secret material from WH computer for 3 years and sending it overseas...I feel like I'm back in the 50's...

click on link below:

spy

Well that is what we get when we recruit foreign citizens, without really screening them, also the 10% ers are everywhere. everyone is faithful to something, even their self. Welcome to the real world , Gator...

...Also Gator there seems to be more to the story than the original edition....

I like the idea of the driving school. Thanks Mike. There is a Richard Petty School at Pocono Raceway. Maybe we can both take part!!!!
Here in Jersey she will be required to get lessons from a cirtified driving school if she want's her "permit" when she's 16 1/2. If no driving school then she has to wait until she's 17 for the permit. Recardless she still has to wait until 18 for the unrestricted license.
Still undecided about putting her behind the wheel this early (a young 15)

It is very hard to teach your own kids to drive (lots of tension, etc) if you know someone you trust get them to teach your kids and if they have kids you teach them.

The very best teacher is experience, so the more you let them drive (under instruction) the better.

MM...how in the world did the security office not catch this guy...he was in debt over $500,000...seems that this would be a red flag to the security people....somebody dropped the ball on this one...their next duty station should be somewhere on the north coast of Alaska guarding the beach...IMHO Sorry about that Thumper...

RGwiz, get her to learn the standard shift also...never know when she might have to know how to drive one.

My driver's ed class used a brand new 1959 Chevy with a standard shift, no power steering, no power brakes....when you learn to parallel park a '59 Chevy you can park anything...which was good because you had to parallel park your car as part of the final driving test to get your license...I used my Mom's English F0rd; it was like putting a nit in a gal. jug...

Does anyone parallel park today?

Yeah, I remember the first time Dad took me out. It was in his 62 Impala. Three on a tree and woudn't ya know he took me over to the steepest road and parked it. He got out, walked around and said to me "take over son, if ya can get it going your home free".
The rest is history!

When I was a kid I grew up on a sawmill and was operating tractor/trailers, fork lifts and log skidders by the age of 12. Can't do that any more. Now I let my 14 year old back cars around the yard so they can at least get a feel for it.
John

woodbutcher, if you know someone with some private land and private roads your 14 yr. old could get in some practice...legal for the law but maybe not for your insurance co. if you have a problem...

Here in Aus you can get learners permit at 16 but must have licenced driver as front passenger till you get "provisional" (no need for licenced passenger)at 17 but there speed restrictions and no towing trailers for 12months then 2nd stage of "p" not so many restrictions for 2 more years before unrestricted licence. While driving with either of these you must also display a "L" or "P" plate front and rear of car. Motorcycles dont have passenger but must do recognized instruction course before getting permit and display plates on rear only. There is also engine capacity restriction on learners.
If you do the licence test with a automatic trans that is all you can drive until you do test in stick shift, do the test in a stick shift you can drive auto.
Rigid truck licence is another test after 2 years driving, Semi trailer another test after 4 years driving.
We still have teenagers as the highest accident toll.
Tony

Tony;
Wow that's a lot to go thru. Here in NJ they changed the age to 18 for an un-restricted license. 15 for driver's ed and state test that you must score 80% to pass. 16 1/2 to enroll in a state certified driver's school to get a permit and drive with a licensed driver and restricted passengers (at least one family member and within certain hours). 17 for a provisional license with licensed driver within those same hours and finaly 18 to take the road test and drive un-restricted.

Just understanding the new proceedures is a challenge!

Ofcourse you an be an eleagle and get around all this. Just buy a junk and drive it! No age limits or insurance!!!

I would like to see all of the states have some restrictions on when a new driver may drive. 16 years old and driving at 2 AM on the weekend is not the best time to learn to drive...back and forth to work/home ok not just racing around looking for a college age party to crash. Too easy for kids to get booze...

I see some states limit the number of kids that can be in a car with a new driver....good...it keeps peer pressure down and showing off.

IMHO

Gator, I didn't know that some states don't have hourly ristrictions when on your permit.

Ya know what? Driving around here at 2AM is probably the best time to learn. No one's on the road at that time.

I think my daughter would be more comfortable with me. She first asked me and if I let a friend take her she may think I'm copping out.

The only strick shift I have is my Coupe and there's no way is she going to learn on that. (maybe later)

RGwiz...wish that was true here (quiet streets at 2AM) but this is a college town....

Maybe I am not PC but with a daughter I always felt she should know how to use a stick in case of an emergency...like if she is with someone out late at night and the driver gets sick and the car is a standard, etc....maybe I'm paranoid.

No Gator your not paranoid. It would come in handy for her to know how to drive a stick. Like you say if one of her friends is trashed she can drive him or her home.
When I get my coupe on the road again maybe I'll have her back it out of the garage, but that's as far as she goes for now!

How about the rest of you guys.

Would you or did you let your kids drive your pride and joy?

What did they think of it?

our daughters, in their late teens at the time, drove restored a 54 vette and a 90 ZR1 vette from cumberland md to anaheim claif for the ncrs national convention in '92. i trailered our 57 FI as it was a Duntov candidate and road scars would have caused deductions. all four of our kids can and most do drive manual tranny equipped chevys, jeeps and mopars. only one is into old cars. i gave her the 54 vette she drove coast to coast on two occasions. the other three kids are too busy with familys and jobs to fool with old cars anymore. when each of the 4 kid got about 15 years old, i took them to the barn, they picked out the old chevy they'd have to rebuild within the coming year. all four finished the old chevys, a 50 convert, a 49 club coupe, a 47 chevy 2 door sedan and a 55 chevy pickup. they drove them all thru high school and when they went off to college, the old chevy returned to the barn where they currently await the grandchildren turning 15. the year or so the 4 kids spent with me rebuilding the 4 old chevys resulted in their taking way better care of the cars they sweated over than their peers did with the cars mom and dad bought for them. my 2 cents. mike.

Great story Mike!

You have to be very proud of those Kids. All four kids restored each a car. Did you help in any way?

Wow!!!!!

Good luck with the grandkids!

Dad let me drive the old truck, ('30 Roadster Delvery), after I got my learner permit. I didn't get to drive the '31 until I was 40.

None of mine got to drive the old one. My Grandson is 9 now and may get a chance behind the wheel when he gets to a legal age.

Dan.

Taught my son to drive a stick with the '32. Double win...he learns how to drive a stick and learned about old cars in the process....plus spending some quality time together...

We found and bought 'him' a '69 Camaro when he was 12...he spend the next 4 years+ restoring and working on it in the shop then drove it to school...he still has the car at age 28.

When someone has to repair or pay for any car damage with their own sweat and $$$ they take care of that car better than a kid that gets a car just given to them. IMHO

From Gator's post.....

Sounds like "no pain, no gain."

Bill.

I wish that theory was applied more offten in this town.

Most kids here get a Beemer or Rice Rocket for graduation. Some poor souls have to "make do" with a 2-3 year old left over from Mom & Dad.

I want the best for my kid, but I know what I drove when I first got my license. A beat up 7 yr old Corvair! $350 bucks and that was 5 weeks pay!

Now here's the BIG ONE. My daughter loves the new Mustang!!!!!!

RG,

There's another one-liner that sorta 'fits' in right about here.

"Too much too soon!!!"

Incidentally, regardless of the fact that the 'new' Mustang is a F**d, it really is a pretty neat car.

Good luck!!!

Bill.