Tips for Parents of New Drivers

A new school year is upon us, and with it, a slew of new student drivers are taking to the roads.  They grow up so fast, don’t they?  It seems like just yesterday you were buckling them into their car seat, and now they’re asking you for the keys to the car; so they can get behind the wheel and learn to drive – because once they do, they’ll never stay home, they’ll be driving all over the place with their friends, going to the mall, after school events, work, and before you know they’ll be going off to college.  Provided they even make it to college, because you think back to when you were a teenager and you realize it’s a miracle you made it out alive.  They’re going to go to parties and stay out late at night, not caring one whit that every minute they’re out past the curfew you set, another one of your hairs is turning gray, while dad’s is just falling out from all the stress, because the kids are never home; and they never answer their cell phones, which probably means they got in accident!

Stop.  Breath in.  And out.  It’s okay.  Being the parent of a new driver is daunting; for all of the reason above and more.  One thought of the inattentive driver that cut you off earlier in the day and you shutter to think of your son or daughter getting behind the wheel for the first time, and how they will handle the situation; or how the rest of the world might handle them while they’re figuring it out.

Aplusb Software offers a wide array of tools and programs to help students become safe, effective drivers; and while dad’s hair may continue to thin a little, with a little luck (and a lot of patience) hopeful it’ll be a little less gray when all is said and done.

From our online store, you’ll find items like our magnetic signs, that you can apply temporarily to the side of your vehicle whenever you take your son or daughter on the road; to inform other cars on the road that a student driver is behind the wheel, so they will hopefully be a little more understanding if you teen makes a faux pas. Road Rules is our practice test for the written exam, to help teens get their permit and comes free with SimuRide Home Edition, a single monitor version of our driving simulation software, designed to work with most home, Windows based PCs.  With SimuRide, your teen can practice driving anytime they’d like, without concern for their safety or the cost of gas or maintenance of a real vehicle.  If they crash, you can start the simulator over without taking a car in to get repaired, or any need to patch up an injured driver.  The software also provides a report after each session, to help parents and students see areas teens may need to work on.  Adults can use the simulator too, to brush up on their driving skills or learn new ones, like driving a car while towing a boat!

#DriveSafe