3
Aug
2008
A mother’s plea as teen driver is licensed
DEAR drivers, my eldest child recently passed his driving test and now proudly has a provisional licence and some cherry red P plates to show for it.
This meant freedom and a sense of achievement (for him). It also meant joy but worry (for me).
This letter is a plea for understanding. It is a reminder of […]
DEAR drivers, my eldest child recently passed his driving test and now proudly has a provisional licence and some cherry red P plates to show for it.
This meant freedom and a sense of achievement (for him). It also meant joy but worry (for me).
This letter is a plea for understanding. It is a reminder of the preciousness with which these new drivers are regarded by their family and friends, an explanation about their fragility and resilience and a reminder that - simply - they are out there.
We were all there once ourselves, new to the wide open road with all its twists and turns. But it’s different when it is your child behind the wheel. It’s a jungle out there on the blacktop and my strapping son and his mates are in the thick of it.
The 30 minutes my son was undergoing the driving test were some of the longest of my life. As soon as I saw his beaming face, I knew my driving tutelage no longer would be required.
Like the day my son started school or got his first part-time job, there was a feeling that part of the role I played in his life - the mothering part - was a little bit over. I knew it was inevitable, and that if he could eventually do without me, I had done my job.
I miss seeing him develop skills behind the wheel, but I am happy to take off my driving supervisor hat, for I was neither a patient nor a particularly relaxed teacher.
At the start of our enforced time in the front of the vehicle, I sweated and stressed. I would cling to the door handle, the visor and the seatbelt. I got better as my son’s logbook became fuller, but I can only imagine my boy is happy to have shed the mother lode of nervous tension that came with my company when he was learning.
Now that he is out there, please go gently on him and other on P-platers. Please don’t think their loud music and wild hair means they deserve a razz and a honk. They are a generation that lives large, certainly, but they are a good bunch and they need others to give them a chance to settle into the roadmaps and landscape as they explore them.
My son and his friends are potentially the most experienced new drivers Queensland has ever produced. Far from “fluking” their tests, those teens granted their wheels have truly earned the mobile reward. They have put in 100 hours of practice. They have passed written and practical tests. They have an understanding of the road and its rules beyond anyone who has gone before.
But today’s new drivers also think they will live forever. They have so much of life yet to live and they have brains that have not yet finished being made. They sometimes do unexpected and dumb things.
The reason this bunch goes through such a thorough process is that young drivers were dying at twice the rate of oldies. Me and my fellow parents hope the new regime is enough to keep our children safer, but we know that only time will tell.
Now that my son has joined some of his friends in earning his way into the world of roads, rules and responsibility, I have a few simple requests to you, his fellow road users:
Please steer clear. The red P prominently displayed is supposed to garner respect and remind those around to give a bit of space and time to those so new to our roads. It is supposed to let you all know that while the road rules are fresh in the mind of the person behind the wheel, real experience is yet to come.
Be patient. You don’t have to remind him or his fellow P-platers so loudly that they have waited too long at an intersection or that they are sticking to the speed limit. A simple toot of the horn will do, if you must.
Appreciate conservatism, if only in this case. Generally, we as a community should commend safe and legal behaviour, wouldn’t you agree, even when it is not standard behaviour? It is hard enough as an adult to keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, let alone when you are 17.
Watch your language. On those inter-vehicular communications, would you please keep the yelling and abuse directed at P-platers to a dull roar. They are young and easy to wind up. Pick on drivers of your own vintage instead.
If you could please read this letter with the sincerity with which it is written, I would deeply appreciate it.
My daughter is due to sit her learner driver test in a little over a month and I face 100 more hours of stress, supervision and giving instruction.
Experience does not make the prospect easier, and it would be nice to start out with the expectation that we all care for our almost-adults and can remember the day when we were new to the driving game.
Depending on those around, it can be heaven or hell on wheels.
Warm regards,
The mother of a new driver