As parents we get to hear lots about developing motor skills (usually fine or gross) ... and then there are motor skills of a different kind!

There comes a time in every father’s life when they realise their little girl is growing up. She is nearly as tall as you are, can develop strong arguments and the mother-daughter thing can get explosive – particularly at certain times of the month.

She isn’t quite 15 yet but one day asks the question. "Dad, could you maybe take me to a car park and show me how to drive?" When I was young my father let me move the car up and down our driveway well before I was 15. I remember him whacking me for swerving for a dog that ran out when we went on our first on-road outing. Luckily my school had a drivers’ education program so the stress of learning went down for him and me. My experiences led me to believe that learning basic vehicle handling before facing traffic is a good thing.
I know of kids, particularly girls, who are afraid to learn to drive - so it's also a confidence thing! What was I to do? I weighed up the pros and cons.

The pros are:

• It is a potentially good father/daughter bonding experience. Providing I stay cool and don’t end up yelling.


• It will be good for her self-confidence and independence. She hasn’t started from an over-confident position, which would have caused a different set of concerns.


• Learning early may give her a good base before going into a proper training program when she is old enough.


• I would rather she had her license and was driving rather than some other person (possibly a boy who thinks he is indestructible).

The cons:

• It's illegal – well, unless you are on private property ...


• They aren't insured!


• It could go terribly wrong and eliminate all the potential benefits.


• I could look uncool (sweating profusely)

I decided to give it a try anyway and off we went late one Sunday morning. The venue was quiet (a local cemetry ... don't say it!) with just a few parked cars as people visited their dearly departed. In this location, any traffic will be going only 20-30 kph, giving plenty of time to react.

I pulled up deep in the cemetery grounds and gave my daughter a description of how to pull away from stopped and how to stop again. Then it was her turn. *DRUM ROLL* ... She did fine and we progressed to driving round round-abouts, indicating and turning, driving past parked cars, starting on a hill.... She scraped the kerb once and I learned the importance of thinking through details – like which way to turn the key. If you turn it the wrong way when trying to turn it off!!!

My daughter reported back to her mother that I had been very relaxed and only raised my voice once. After the second lesson she can drive around quite well, although will need a bit more practice on three-point turns. There were a few moments when I realised how little control I had without a dual control car; we developed a code word which meant ‘hit the brakes hard’ it was STOP! However, in moments of panic it can take a little while for the word to come out.

I feel hopeful that she will master the basics of manoeuvring the car and can then focus a bit on anticipating what other drivers (who will only be doing 20-30ks) will do. By the time she gets to have proper lessons she will be well on her way to being a ‘good’ driver. Then, we will have to face her wanting to drive us out on the ‘proper’ roads and, one day, the inevitable complete loss of control when she wants to go solo. Hopefully I will have done the right thing and both our relationship and her self-confidence and safety will benefit from it. Time will tell.

My next challenge – her younger brother wants to learn to ride a motorbike!

For the record - a quick comparison of legal / minimum driving ages around the world:

Argentina: 18
Australia: 16-18 (depending on state)
Brazil: 18
Canada: 18
Chile: 18
China: 18
Costa Rica: 18
Europe except UK: 18
Egypt: 18
Ethiopia: 14
Hong Kong: 18
Iran: 18
India: 18
Indonesia: 17
Japan: 18
Jamaica: 18
Korea: 18
Libya: 18
Malaysia: 17
Mauritius: 18
Mexico: 16
Morocco: 18
New Zealand: 15
Oman: 18
Pakistan: 18
Peru: 18
Philippines: 17
Russia: 18
Singapore: 18
South Africa: 18
Taiwan: 18
Tanzania: 18
Thailand: 18
Turkey: 18
UAE: 18
UK: 17
Uruguay: 18
USA: varies between 14 1/2 and 17 (depending on state)
Venezuela: 18

-Campbell

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