Content

• To step
• Tips
• Warnings

Should you teach a friend or family member to drive? While learning to drive largely comes down to practice, it is a lot easier with a good teacher. Before becoming someone's driving teacher, make sure you know the rules of the road, are comfortable with an untrained driver next to you, and are willing to take responsibility if something goes wrong. Which also helps very much patience, because your student will make mistakes anyway.

To step

1. Start at home. Before you even get into the car, it is wise to look into the traffic rules, the operation of the car, minor maintenance (such as refueling, measuring tire pressure, checking oil level, topping up windscreen washers, etc.) and driving license requirements.
   • Look at both the traffic rules and the manual for the car itself.
   • If your driving student is your own child, now is a good time to talk about your responsibilities and those of your child. Who will pay for fuel and insurance? Is your child going to use your car or a private car? Does your child have to be home at a certain time every day, get good grades at school or save a certain amount for study? It is wise to discuss these questions in advance.
2. Set a good example. Encourage your student to see how you drive. You can start doing this long before your student gets his or her driver's license.
   • Ride out loud. It may have been a long time since you were aware of how you drive, but try to talk about the driving process with your student as a passenger. For example, say, "That blue car is driving too fast." It's probably going to merge in front of us, so I'll leave some extra space for us "and" I'm going to turn left, so I'll use my turn signal, slow down and steer a little to the left. "
   • Show good driving technique and be even more brave than usual. Give others space, give your direction, do not drive too fast and do not insult other road users.
   • Encourage your passenger to assess for themselves what the traffic situation is and how you can best respond to it.
   • Discuss possible road hazards and what to do about it.
3. If applicable, help your student obtain a provisional driver's license. In Belgium you can only drive on public roads with a provisional driving license. This option does not exist in the Netherlands, so your student will first have to obtain a full driving license to be allowed to drive on public roads. Practicing without a driving license is only allowed on your own property in the Netherlands.
   • View the rules for obtaining a provisional driving license. In Belgium, the student must first pass the theoretical exam to be eligible for a provisional driving license.
   • In Belgium, you must have a driving license for at least 8 years as a companion.
4. Find a quiet place with no obstacles for the first exercise behind the wheel. For example, an empty parking lot is a good place to start.
   • For the first few times, practice with your student in daylight and calm weather. Before hitting the road in dangerous or difficult conditions - such as heavy rain, thick fog, or snow and ice, have your student become familiar with basic car controls and driving.
5. Review the controls of the car.
   • Turn the car on and off a few times with your student. Buckle up, adjust the mirrors and seats, release the brake, start the car, put it in first gear, etc. Then do the same thing, but the other way around.
   • Also go through the controls for the windshield wipers, headlights, turn signals and other important parts.
6. Practice driving the car.
   • Practice accelerating and decelerating so that it goes smoothly and evenly.
   • Practice shifting if the car has a manual transmission.
   • Drive certain patterns, and focus on riding patterns that will also be needed on real rides. Practice turning left and right. Practice parallel parking next to a sidewalk and parking in parking spaces.
   • Develop a sense of where the sides and rear of the car are.
   • Also practice reversing. Again, start in a clearing and try to reverse towards a target. Preferably choose a target that will not damage the car if it goes wrong (such as a hedge or a line on the ground).
   • Practice in the parking lot several times as needed to build confidence and consistency in driving the car.
7. Choose a road with light traffic for the first real driving experience.
   • Practice position on the road - stay on the right side of the road and in the middle of the track.
   • Advise your student to stop well in front of the other cars for a traffic light. A good rule of thumb is that you should still be able to see the wheels on the car in front of you. Especially with an inexperienced driver, stopping too early is much safer than stopping too late.
   • Make sure your student has enough space to brake.
8. Gradually work towards more difficult road situations, such as: highways, inclement weather, night driving and heavy traffic.
9. Practice maneuvers necessary for the driving test, as well as techniques that will be required later on under real conditions.
10. Practice the driving test, even if you may have to come up with it yourself. For driving exams in the Netherlands, you can see what they will test during the exam on the website of the CBR (Centraal Bureau Rijvaardigheidsbewijzen). You can also find the content of the driving test in Belgium online. You can test these maneuvers in a side street. You may not be able or willing to give your student a precise score, but you can provide feedback such as "watch your speed" or "you forgot to give your direction before making that turn."

Tips

• Try not to shout or panic. Your student is probably nervous enough already.
• Talk about the blind spot and try to stay out of the blind spot of other road users.
• Turn off the radio while learning, and avoid other distractions as much as possible. If your student has passed, you can gradually introduce the radio to the car, but don't turn it on too loud: it is distracting and bad for your ears.
• Practice regularly and in short sessions (eg a ride to the supermarket).
• Practice preventive driving habits, both for yourself and for your student.
• Let your student make his or her own mistakes, as long as they are not dangerous. A choppy turn or a sudden start or stop might be uncomfortable, but it's not much of a problem and your student will learn from it.
• Do not forget to learn good driving habits in addition to the traffic rules.
• As your student gets to grips with driving, you can let him or her ride on rides you had to take anyway, such as a ride to the grocery store, dropping off kids at school or sports club, refueling the car, etc.
• New drivers are sometimes scared when they are just starting to drive. If you feel that your student is afraid of driving, there are ways to help them overcome this fear. If your student has passed the exam, it is best to take short trips with an older and more experienced driver as a passenger.
• Don't give contradictory instructions, such as "go and stop here" or "wait, we can drive".
• Intervene in an emergency: correct the steering wheel or apply the handbrake from the passenger seat.
• Be patient. Count on a lot of jerky and clumsy movements, especially in the beginning, and expect this to continue for a while. If you are driving with a manual gearbox, expect your student to shut down the engine. Don't get angry when this happens. Just tell your student to use the handbrake, put the gear lever in neutral and start the engine again.

Warnings

• Always obey local traffic rules. If you are unsure about the rules for learning drivers, look them up. In the Netherlands, for example, you are only allowed to drive on your own property without a driving license. In addition, the ANWB in the Netherlands has a number of training grounds where your student can practice in a controlled environment.
• Always make an assessment yourself whether your student is ready to sit in a car. For some people, real driving lessons can work out better.
• It is not recommended to practice driving if the person is not yet old enough.