New adult foreigner driver advice

[ukrkoz]

Well, coming from Seattle, you know well enough - Asians can't drive. Not sure where you saw the transportation goodness either, I work downtown.
Jokes aside, I am coming from immigrants community in the same area. All our women drive. Granmas drive. I think, if you buy a lot of patience, find nice secluded roads, and good insurance, in about 2-3 weekends at 6 hrs a day she'll be awright. Just please, teach her how to look to the left first, when pulling into arterial, not to stop in the middle of a road to check on her face in the rear view mirror, be aware that when you pull into FWY, YOU have to yield, not 70mph traffic, and how to use side mirrors. Have blind spot mirrors installed also.
Boeing used to have very large parking lots available during weekends for practice, those are the best to learn how to drive. You may still find one or two around.

[Billy_J]

Originally Posted by eskercurve

...after driving for about 15 years myself, I had to actually stop and think about it...

That is one of the most difficult things for someone teaching another to drive! Everything is "automatic" with an experienced driver and you no longer think about what you are doing. So yes, stop and think about what you actually do. You may even need to get in the driver's seat, do something, and see what you are actually doing!

As for learning to parallel park, that is the way people are these days - if something is difficult, don't do it or avoid it!

I'm the opposite and not afraid of hard work or learning new things. She can learn to parallel park and be better at it than anyone else. It is just a matter of learning what to do and tons of practice. If she is young, she will need to parallel park at some point. Or will have similar situations where knowing that will come in handy.

I taught a young kid to parallel park and he was terrible at first. We started by parallel parking where there were no other cars on the street. Then when that was mastered (after plenty of backing into the curb ), next was parking where there was just a car in front. And then on to parking with a car in front and in back. Next was a one-way street and parallel parking on the left side.

We did this a little every day for a month. He is a pro at parallel parking now and will be able to use that skill for the rest of his life...

P.S. Let her drive anywhere you both are going even if she is in school. New drivers have a LOT of "almost" accidents. The passenger needs to yell STOP, watch out for that pedestrian, GO!, etc. Best she encounter these situations with another set of eyes in the car. I figure they need about a year of this and by then have encountered most situations.