a month from tomorrow I'll have a child old enough to drive a car.

[VFS]

I'm scared out of my mind. Please, people, set my mind at ease.

Right now all I can think of is "oh hi, i'm a teenage boy wiht hormones and a desire to rebel against my parents. i have debatable control over a 2500 pound mass of steel and fuel and i'm going to go load it with human beings and barrel down a paved expanse of land towards other people. be back later."

GAH

[BlobVanDam]

You're too young to have a kid that old. Stop lying.

[Chino]

Regardless what you say or hope, hes going to push the limits of his car. I'd recommend getting him behind the wheel of a truck or a suv. I got on the highway and pushed my car to 135 on the way home from the DMV.... its just what guys do.

[BlobVanDam]

Regardless what you say or hope, hes going to push the limits of his car. I'd recommend getting him behind the wheel of a truck or a suv. I got on the highway and pushed my car to 135 on the way home from the DMV.... its just what guys do.

What a worrying thought. Everyone I know was smart enough to want to be a safe driver instead of having a death wish.

[Pyroph]

Regardless what you say or hope, hes going to push the limits of his car. I'd recommend getting him behind the wheel of a truck or a suv. I got on the highway and pushed my car to 135 on the way home from the DMV.... its just what guys do.

Uhh wow, no don't do this.

[icarus4321]

Luckily, my first car was an '87 S10 Blazer that could only get up to about 75 mph (and that was after a lot of work)!  As much as kids like to push the boundaries, most know when to draw the line.  It's definitely a valid worry, but I'm sure he'll be fine.  I know that I'll be pretty freaked out when my son hits that age.  Luckily, I have about 14 years to go!

[VFS]

Chino: Not helpful in these situations. (tm)

[VFS]

an '87

you for being so accurate in your grammar or whatever you pedantic folk will tell me this most accurately is a good example of.

Anyhow, he's a pretty smart kid with a good head on his shoulders and he excels in common sense.

That being said, his friends are knuckleheads and when he gets around them he becomes King Knucklehead Supreme (with cheese).

[YtseBitsySpider]

Luckily, my first car was an '87 S10 Blazer that could only get up to about 75 mph (and that was after a lot of work)!  As much as kids like to push the boundaries, most know when to draw the line.  It's definitely a valid worry, but I'm sure he'll be fine.  I know that I'll be pretty freaked out when my son hits that age.  Luckily, I have about 14 years to go!

that sounds like me....in my dad's 92 or maybe 93 explorer....it only got about 75-80...and it was a standard too...

we used to play cat-n-mouse in my little community...DC Cab style...chasing each other around...and lots of emergency braking on corners in the winter time...good fun.

[kári]

We have to be 18 in Belgium.

[TheVoxyn]

We have to be 18 in Belgium.

Same here.

[Zydar]

We have to be 18 in Belgium.

Same here.

Here in Sweden too.

[VFS]

My son will be 16. I'm not quite THAT old.

[icarus4321]

an '87

you for being so accurate in your grammar or whatever you pedantic folk will tell me this most accurately is a good example of.

Anyhow, he's a pretty smart kid with a good head on his shoulders and he excels in common sense.

That being said, his friends are knuckleheads and when he gets around them he becomes King Knucklehead Supreme (with cheese).

I aim to please...

It's always a tough line to tow with kids.  At the end of the day, you do everything within your power to prepare them to succeed in life (or at the very least not kill themselves).  Once they hit a certain age, it's as much their own responsibility to use the skills that you've helped them attain.  That's not to say that it's any easier to sleep at night when they're making their own decisions, but ten years from now you'll probably look back at this point in your son's life and appreciate the independence that he is able to develop.  He'll make some mistakes, but we all do.  That's how we learn.  

You said it yourself, "he's a pretty smart kid with a good head on his shoulders and he excels in common sense."  If you have to dwell on anything when he goes out, I would concentrate on this.  Forget about those other knuckleheads.  Your son sounds like a good kid.

[VFS]

Yes but... you haven't been around all these years since I began with "my 13-year old son just _________" threads

man, the stuff he's done...

[icarus4321]

I hear ya...

It sounds like those threads might have been pretty interesting.  It's too bad they're not around anymore.

[wkiml]

My soon to be 15 year old ( this Friday) has been busting my cohonees about when am I going to start giving him lessons... every weekend he brings up the subject its annoying as hell ...further more he has it planted in his mind that I'm going to buy him a Mustang when he is finally allowed to drive I keep telling him if anyone is getting a mustang it will be me and he can have my '97 oldsmobile 88

[PlaysLikeMyung]

an '87

you for being so accurate in your grammar or whatever you pedantic folk will tell me this most accurately is a good example of.

Anyhow, he's a pretty smart kid with a good head on his shoulders and he excels in common sense.

That being said, his friends are knuckleheads and when he gets around them he becomes King Knucklehead Supreme (with cheese).

I got my license when I was almost 18. I've noticed that I'm the same driver when I'm alone as when I'm with my buddies. I do have one friend though that makes it really difficult to drive with. I suggest having a passenger limit when he first gets his license. My parents did that with me (although, I never have more than two others in the car anyway, for whatever reason), and I think it works great.

Sidebar: My 17 year old brother got a speeding ticket. 78 in a 50.

[emindead]

My mum let me drive the car before I had my license. And there were times where I drove alone. I learned a lot in that previous time. Also, I've never had a ticket in my life. Though I did crash once like two years ago against a friend.

[Sigz]

I still don't have my driver's license. 

[brakkum]

Try and set some ground rules I guess is the best you can do. Have you known anyone killed/injured in car related incidents? remind him of that, that helped me to be a better driver.

[rumborak]

My suggestion: Do *not* watch the first 10 minutes of the new Star Trek movie.

rumborak

[staveoffzombies]

My parents got lucky in the sense that I've never been a reckless driver.  I *have* gotten two tickets in my life...but I've been driving for almost seven years so I think I'm doing ok.

My sister on the other hand is a maniac....

[ShadowGirl]

Oh man...this sucks!  It's scarey.  I know how you feel.  My goddaughter, who will soon be 15, is already asking if I am going to contribute funds for her first car!  I'm like..."WHAT? Do what I did and pay for your own first car!"  I have let her drive my car a few times on the back roads already (shhh..dont tell her mom.. ) and she seems to be pretty good at it.  But..that is with me around.  No telling what she will do when the adults are getting smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror....  All I can say is...good luck with it!

Donna

[VFS]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments.

Regarding star trek - no problem, not my thing (though growing up my parents and older siblings loved it).

I will definitely be setting rules and regulations, and the number of passengers will be strictly limited to the number of seatbelts the vehicle has. Of course he has to get a job to pay for our insurance increase when we add him to the policy, and he'll be paying for his own gas. Hopefully he'll realize pretty darn quick that at this age he's just gonna be working every hour he's not at school to earn money to buy gas to go to work and back, and not much else.

And yeah, he remembers being about 4 years old and in his carseat when we were rear-ended going about 30, and how my front upper tooth put a ridge in the steering wheel, and how his ice cream cone went all over the ceiling. Likewise about when I was broadsided in my driver's side door when I was driving home 4 months pregnant, and was put on bedrest until my daughter was born (3 weeks premature, and weighing under 5 pounds when we brought her home), and I beileve I'll be reminding him of those things

[brakkum]

good plan 

[emindead]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments.

Regarding star trek - no problem, not my thing (though growing up my parents and older siblings loved it).

I will definitely be setting rules and regulations, and the number of passengers will be strictly limited to the number of seatbelts the vehicle has. Of course he has to get a job to pay for our insurance increase when we add him to the policy, and he'll be paying for his own gas. Hopefully he'll realize pretty darn quick that at this age he's just gonna be working every hour he's not at school to earn money to buy gas to go to work and back, and not much else.

And yeah, he remembers being about 4 years old and in his carseat when we were rear-ended going about 30, and how my front upper tooth put a ridge in the steering wheel, and how his ice cream cone went all over the ceiling. Likewise about when I was broadsided in my driver's side door when I was driving home 4 months pregnant, and was put on bedrest until my daughter was born (3 weeks premature, and weighing under 5 pounds when we brought her home), and I beileve I'll be reminding him of those things

Wait, your son is pregnant?

[Fuzzboy]

I have my license, but my parents won't let me touch their cars, and whenever I bring up getting my own car, they laugh right in my face.

[brakkum]

^thats pretty stupid imo.

[TimmyHiggy]

Good advice is that no matter how in control you are, there are a lot of other drivers that are VERY shit around you. Its all very well taking a corner like an F1 driver safe in the knowledge you are going to make it, but F1 drivers dont need to worry about pensioners coming the other way and veering onto your side of the road. Fast cornering, you commit yourself to 1 line round the bend and can't avoid the morons out there.

[Nick]

Well at least it's a boy. It could be a woman, which would of course lack a penis, which we all know is essential to good driving and sense of direction.

[ZBomber]

Well at least it's a boy. It could be a woman, which would of course lack a penis, which we all know is essential to good driving and sense of direction.

QFTW

[skydivingninja]

A good way to scare your kid into being a defensive driver is telling him/her that if they get a ticket, they have to pay the difference in insurance costs.  It worked for me.

[Chino]

Well at least it's a boy. It could be a woman, which would of course lack a penis, which we all know is essential to good driving and sense of direction.

sig'd

[MetalJunkie]

 

a month from tomorrow I'll have a child old enough to drive a car.

Wouldn't it be easier to have a baby?