Drivers ed for your teenager

[utmck]

Has anyone done the "at home" versoin of drivers ed for their teenager, if so, can you point me in the right direction?

 

[brntorng]

Yes, I've used the "Drive's Ed in a Box" which is one of the at-home TxDPS-approved courses and probably the most popular. This link should get you where you need to go.

However, I'm not sure I'd recommend this approach, frankly. Most of the lessons are very slow paced and boring because the lessons need to meet mimimum state imposed time limits, regardless of the amount of material. Most teenagers will have a hard time staying focussed to work through all the lessons. Maybe it would work if your teen is very disciplined and patient. Mine wasn't and we struggled just to finish the minimum legal requirement.

I had another teen who took Driver's Ed at a driving school so I've been through it both ways and the school was much better. My suggestion would be to enroll them in a Driver's Ed course and supplement it with a lot of extra driving time with a patient parent.

 

[OakHillHorn]

I used the "Drivers Ed in a Box" for my teen boy. It worked out great for us. He could do the lessons at his pace. The kit comes with driving instructions for the parent to be able to teach their kid properly. The biggest draw back/benefit of the course is the driving. With regular drivers ed, they only get to drive about 7 hours with the instructor. With drivers ed in a box, they have to drive 50 hours with the parent and some required night driving and heavy traffic driving.

 

[Statalyzer]

I learned to drive with Driver's Ed in a Box. It's drawn-out, and some of the terms and lessons are pretty cheesy. Every now and then they make an unnecessary point and act like it's a huge deal, like teaching that you should always back into a parking space so that you can leave in the forward direction. It's main advantages are:

1)You can set your own pace
2)It's very very comprehensive. The kids aren't likely to be driving and run into an usual situation and think "What the hell - I haven't seen this before, what do I do?"
3)They actually have to drive a lot, unless like most drivers ed programs that just throw painfully inexperienced kids out there and hope for the best

Another potential benefit is that the parent may pick up on some good driving tips as well. Of course, if you're a bad driver, watch out because you'll probably turn your kid into one as well.

 

[RollingwoodHorn]

I was taught using driver's ed in a box as was my sister. It worked out better in my opinion if for no other reason than you don't have to go sign up for driving/observing hours. Instead, you can just build most of it in to the driving that you would already be doing anyway.

 

[Wild Bill]

I used Virtual Drive of Texas CDROM for 2 of my daughters and it was pretty easy. Link

 

[Vibro_King]

I don't know what Drivers Ed in a box is, but it sounds really bad.

I learned at a driving school, and had to watch the 60's era drivers ed movies like Blood on the Highway, Room to Live, Red Asphalt and then had to cruise the 610 East Loop at the worst times. That's an education. I still use much of it.

Spring for the real life class and demand your kids see the scary movies. Spare yourself the stress. They'll be better drivers.

By the way, does drivers ed in a box come with a kit to hook up the sweet second break in your car?

 

[Statalyzer]

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[hullabelew]

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