"SHE" SAYS...

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30952, 7 January 1966, Page 7

"SHE" SAYS...

... I have just received a letter from a reader, Mr W. Glasgow, on the subject of young persons learning to drive. It includes some veryuseful ideas for parents whose children are going through this stage. Mr Glasgow 7 mentions the necessity for new drivers to have further training after obtaining their licences. “We have two daughters, and though my wife and I are experienced drivers, they went through one of the city's driving schools. This, however, was only the start. They became members of the family driving team as soon as they had their licences. On long trips we changed drivers every 50 miles and on short trips they were also given their turn, and any fault that showed up was quietly corrected. usually when they handed over at the end of their stint. “We found that after about two months a period of overconfidence developed and had to be curbed. The pay-off is that now one has been driv-

ing for eight years and the other six, and neither has so much as scratched a fender. Their driving has covered most of the main roads in New Zealand, as well as city work. “Folk say, ‘Oh yes, it would be different with boys,’ but I’m sure we could have handled that one, too.” If all parents showed this sort of common sense the accident rate would be greatly reduced. The newlylicensed driver is always in need erf much further education and experience. The licence test checks only the fundamentals, and more than these is needed on today’s roads. Often, if the parents are bad drivers, their bad habits tend to “rub off” on the new drivers of the family. If a father considers it a joke to beat the lights, his son is likely' to take the same view. If a father says he drives better with “a few in” his son may think he will do the same. But few things are better than good example.