I guess I was a bit cocky thinking that I could teach my daughter to drive to the highest possible standard. She did learn quickly and she did pass all of her tests. She handles a car with precision and doesn’t get lost as long as the GPS is powered. She went to driving school and passed as well but she didn’t look properly when she took a left turn on a solid green light.
I hated the idea of my daughter being in any kind of danger, thankful to the Toyota company for making a solid crashworthy automobile. She was alone, heading home from work and almost there by 3 blocks. It happened just two days before she turned 18. I felt as if I had failed her. Being her primary tutor I had to take the heat but the more I thought about the situation I realized that it’s not something I can accept the blame for. She took on the great responsibility of piloting an automobile and as PIC for that “flight” it was her job to keep out of other’s way. She just fell right into the statistical trap.
I guess at the end of the day you can train someone how to operate a machine fairly simply but it takes a lot more effort to train judgment. I was too confident in my own skills as a teacher and her skills as a driver to recognize the danger signs of a teenage driver with too much confidence and not enough experience to back it up.
I’m secretly glad that the car was totaled knowing that life is an amazing tutor. Jes will learn much more from that moment of impact than she did in all of her time to date. I know for a fact that I did when I crashed my first car.
Some metal got bent but at least nobody got hurt!
I am reminded of when I sat beside my 17-year-old daughter as she drove my old Subaru Forester up the ramp onto the Queensway. She decided to “race” an OC Transpo bus across the bus lane. Old Subarus do not accelerate as quickly as an 17-year old girl might think they do. OC Transpo buses do not yield either.
I had no controls on the co-pilot side of the vehicle so I could not act instructor-like and calmly say “I have control”! All I could do was act Dad-like and yell at her. Teaching people to fly does not cause grey hair. Raising teenagers causes grey hair.
Like Tony said, just bent metal. Better to learn the inevitable lesson this way, than standing over a bent person after not looking when turning *right* on a green light.
My lesson came from a bent tree when I was 16.
The most important part is that your daughter is ok. Having an almost 18 year old teenager myself, I hear ya! We can teach them all we know about driving, the fact is….they’re the ones behind the wheel !
I’m always a bit nervous when Melissa takes the car, I know she’s careful but they’re still vulnerable. As for experience…..well, that comes with practice and time.