Life seemed to speed up as soon as my daughter was born. A year used to last around 365 days but since she first appeared on the scene I am pretty sure that it has shortened to about half that time.
Now she isn’t only big enough to make her own breakfast and not use nappies but she wants to start driving as well. Maybe it’s because I learned at a relatively advanced age but I just think that she is too young to get started out on the roads. To try and put my mind at ease I came up with a list of the relevant factors to consider.
The Traffic Factor
When I started driving there was nowhere near as many cars on the road as there are now. My initial reaction is that this means that it used to be safer to go out driving. The street I now live in has 14 houses and 23 cars (yes, I counted them, although I can’t deny the possibility of having miscounted at some stage). I have grown up watching the streets gradually get busier but can a new driver safely begin their lessons in such crowded streets? My wife says that everyone goes slower because of the amount of traffic so that it isn’t a problem.
The Reactions Factor
This is actually my daughter’s reasoning I am putting down here. She said that when I was a kid I did things like sit around the piano singing songs about the war while she honed her reactions playing computer games. The bit about the piano isn’t strictly true but I understand her point. Youngsters these days are so used to using technology that talking control of a car for the first probably isn’t as big a deal as it was in my youth. I can still clearly remember my legs trembling as I sat down in the driver’s seat and worried about how much the car cost. In fact, now that I have thought about it a bit more my biggest concern in this respect is that she might be over confident in her first few driving lessons.
Car Safety
This is definitely a point in favour of modern driving lessons. There is no doubt that vehicles are a lot safer now. My first car wasn’t that bad in comparison with the rest of the ones around at the time but it was a death trap when compared to the one I use now. I feel a lot better knowing that she will never have to use a car which has dodgy brakes, flimsy bodywork and a penchant for breaking down at junctions, just like my first vehicle did. I can’t find any statistics on the matter but my instinct tells me that there are now more traffic accidents than before but that the percentage of really serious ones has probably dropped. If I can get her a big Hummer or something then I’ll be even happier that she will be safe and sound out on the roads.
The Summary
There’s a lot to think about, isn’t there. On one hand it is clear that driving seems to be a safer business these days but on the other hand it is such a nervous moment waiting to see your child take their first lesson. Now I can understand why my Mum watched me go out to the driving instructor’s car from behind a nervously twitching curtain, and I was 26 at the time. All in all, it seems like it is time to admit that she has grown up and let her go out and learn how to drive. Just as long as she doesn’t ask to borrow my car.
Once your little one makes the move to start driving then it is almost time to check out cheap car insurance for young drivers.
Is She Really Old Enough To Drive?
