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Graduated Driver Licensing: Questions and
Answers
Driver's Licence (Class 5)
- New Rules for New Drivers Brochure (pdf)
Motorcycle Licence (Class 6
) - New Rules for New Riders Brochure (pdf)
Tips for Parents of Teen
Drivers (pdf)
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Tips for New Drivers
A Teen's Perspective
A licence to drive is a ticket to freedom
for 16 year-olds and, for many of their parents. Gone are the days of
being the chauffeur service for the whole family.
Sometimes though, in their excitement to gain this new found freedom,
teenagers forget to keep safety and responsibility top-of-mind. In other
instances, peer pressure can lead to unsafe driving habits, or the new
driver does not have enough experience to respond well in an emergency
situation.
Here are a few tips provided by young drivers that might help as you enter
the world of driving.
- Get to school five to ten minutes early and leave five minutes
late to avoid the mad dash into and out of the parking lots. Many
accidents happen when kids are rushing around.
- Watch for kids getting on and off school buses; if a school bus has
stopped and its lights are flashing - Do Not Pass
- Go slow - obey the speed limits. Speeding doesn't get you there quicker
and it could get you or someone else killed.
- While you are learning and improving your skills, avoid making left-hand
turns across busy intersections that don't have turn signals. It takes
a while to learn how to gage the oncoming traffic and eventually this
will be easier for you.
- Don't make assumptions about what other drivers are going to do.
The only thing you can assume about another driver with a turn signal
on is that he has a turn signal on. He might not be turning at all.
- When there's an obstruction in your lane, wait for oncoming traffic
to clear before you pull around. Just because someone's blocking your
lane doesn't mean you have the right of way in the next or oncoming
lane.
- Always wear your seat belt--and make sure all your passengers buckle
up, too.
- Never try to fit more people in the car than you have seatbelts for.
- Don't run red lights.
- Use turn signals to tell other drivers what you are doing. Turn signals
on to give the cars behind time to react before you take the action.
- When the traffic light turns green, make sure intersection clears
before you go.
- Don't drive like you own the road; drive like you own the car.
New Drivers in Bad Weather
Keeping control of a motor vehicle can
be challenging in the best of conditions. Here are a few tips on driving
in bad weather conditions:
- Turn your headlights on when you need to turn your windshield wipers
on--in rain, fog, sleet, freezing rain, or snow. In fog, heavy rain
or snow, don't use your high beams, they only make it harder to see.
- Double the space you normally leave between you and the next car.
You'll need more room to stop on slippery roads.
- Brake gently.
Braking in bad weather can be tricky. When braking on wet roads:
- If you have ABS (anti-lock) brakes, do not pump brakes.
- If you skid with non-ABS brakes let up on the brakes to unlock the
wheels, then brake gently.
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General Tips
Tips for Parents of Teen Drivers
Your teenagers have been begging you for months to allow them to get their
driver's licence. They've taken a defensive driving course, had plenty of practise
and say they're ready. You know your teenager is a responsible safety conscious
person, and can handle the responsibility of driving a motor vehicle.
Still, your head tells you that attitudes can change when your teenager
is confronted with the biggest of all teen challenges - peer pressure.
Teen attitudes can change rapidly from the moment a teen leaves the house.
Teens naturally tend to rebel against adult standards and regulations.
Also, peer pressure can have a much greater influence than advice from
an adult.
Teens are also slower to sense danger. Who hasn't seen a teen in action
and said to themselves "they have no fear of danger"? While you can't control
your teenager when they leave the house, there are some things you can
to help ensure they return home safely:
- Make sure your teen gets as much supervised driving time as possible.
Even after they get their licences, supervised driving time will
help to reinforce safe, responsible driving habits.
- Restrict driving to a limited number of hours initially.
- Realize that teens may act differently driving in a car with
you than they will with their friends. Make sure they have had
plenty of training before you allow them to drive with friends.
- Because your teenager is learning to drive and roads can be more
dangerous after dark, it is best to restrict their time behind
the wheel to daylight hours.
- Start with seat belts on your children as soon as they are born,
and set the example yourself. If buckling up is a habit, it is
one they will probably keep.
- Choose safe cars for your teens. Muscle cars and teens make for
a deadly combination.
- Set a zero tolerance policy for car use and alcohol consumption.
Although, the legal drinking limit in Alberta is 18, many younger
teens unfortunately experiment with alcohol use. If you ever sense
your teen has been drinking and driving, revoke their driving privileges
immediately.
Did you know that in Alberta, a parent or guardian of a driver
under 18 years of age must give their written consent to allow
their teen to get their drivers licence? You can revoke that
permission at anytime, and your teen's operator's licence will
be suspended.
Parents are encouraged to check out a new Canadian initiative designed to
improve
young driver safety - www.ipromiseprogram.com.
For more information you can also
read the following report on what driving instructors would like to tell parents, Driving
Instructors Remind Parents: Practice Practice Practice.
Tips for Parents of Teen Drivers (pdf)
This initiative, which views parents as role models of safe and responsible
driving, has parents and youth enter into a multi-item, mutual safe driving
contract and provides a means to hold parent and youth accountable to their
family promise of safe driving.
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Updated 2006
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