“Driving safely” and “having fun” are not mutually exclusive terms. In fact, it is actually quite easy to enjoy everything about your trip from point A to point B while still employing your defensive driving skills.

The thing is, driving is just fun. Whether you’re popping over to a friend’s house for the evening or trekking across the country on a road trip that may never end, you can make it fun and enjoyable – and you won’t even have to travel at breakneck speeds, skid into a parking spot, or slalom your way through traffic.

Of course, we understand if many of you don’t see how driving at the speed limit with both hands on the steering wheel counts as “fun.” That probably just sounds like plain old “driving” to most people.

But we’re here to tell you that you can make plain old driving fun so you can enjoy your time behind the wheel and get from place to place as safely as possible (whether those places are across town or across the country).

Who Cares If Driving is “Fun”?

A lot of you may be wondering why this even matters. Afterall, you might say, as long as I’m arriving safely, isn’t that all that matters? Who cares if I “enjoyed” the journey?

Well, here’s the thing: a lot of drivers experience a lot of anxiety when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle. They become nervous in thick traffic or they overthink every decision. 

If you’re having fun, then you’re probably making confident choices on the road. If you enjoy driving, you aren’t going to have the same doubts about your driving skills, and you’ll find yourself naturally in a mindset that is better suited for making good decisions and reacting quickly and appropriately.

You Can Make Driving More Enjoyable

For many people a drive is just a drive.

For us, it’s an opportunity to enjoy the freedom of the open road, or the chance to experience a precision vehicle. Sometimes, it’s just an opportunity to sing our favorite songs at the top of our lungs without a single critic in sight.

There are a lot of things that can make your drive more enjoyable, no matter where you’re going – it’s up to you how much you want to enjoy trip. 

Consider a few of these tips to make your next drive more fun.

1. Make your vehicle more comfortable

No one enjoys riding in a car that’s filled with the garbage you meant to throw away two weeks ago. And, if the heat/AC has gone out, you certainly aren’t going to be comfortable enough to have fun in the coldest/hottest months of the year. Make comfort a priority by cleaning out your vehicle once in a while and making sure the comfort features are working properly.

2. Keep the vehicle in great condition

You don’t need a high-end sports car to get the most out of every drive, but you do need a car that doesn’t make strange noises while idling or feels like the next U-turn will be its last. Get your car properly serviced to make sure it performs like it should.

3. Don’t think of it as a chore

For a lot of new teen drivers, driving becomes a lot less fun the more they have to spend their time on the road shuttling younger siblings around town, or making quick trips to the grocery store, or any number of other jobs. If driving is more of a job than a hobby, they you should consider compensating yourself for a job well done. This way, you can give yourself something to look forward to.

4. Enjoy your entertainment responsibly

Listening to music, podcasts, and audiobooks in a vehicle is pretty standard and can make any drive more enjoyable. However, if you find yourself getting too worked up by a certain radio personality, or getting too into the groove with the music, it may be time to switch to something else. There are plenty of safe entertainment options available. (And make sure you know your local laws if you prefer using headphones while you drive.)

5. Don’t let others ruin your drive

When someone else cuts you off or won’t let you get around them or drives to close behind you… it can really ruin your day. The key is to remain calm and focused on your own enjoyment and never responding aggressively. Most of those drivers probably aren’t even aware that you’re getting frustrated, so don’t let their ignorance lessen your enjoyment.

Make It Fun and Safe

Your journey can be fun and safe if you follow some of these guidelines. Driving is fun, and we want all our students to feel comfortable behind the wheel so they can enjoy every moment of it.

You don’t need to drive like a Hollywood stunt driver to experience a thrilling car ride, but you do have to have the skills to reach your destination safely.

Our teen driving school was built from the ground up to provide new drivers with the knowledge, skill, and experience they’ll need to safely navigate the ever-growing traffic out there.

This includes teaching the rules of the road and emphasizing the need to obey traffic laws. We cover the mechanical aspects of controlling a vehicle in motion and how to be cautious of potential dangers on the road.

So far, so good – and so basic. These are the foundational elements of a drivers ed course that will cover the things every teen needs to pass their driver’s test and acquire their license.

Here, we go further than that. We go beyond the basics to ensure that when your teen is ready to drive, they will be able to contribute to a safer environment for everyone.

So, let’s take a look at some of the other elements we teach to make a great driver.

Dealing with Distractions on the Road

Distracted driving – whether it’s teens or adults – is one of the biggest threats on the road. It can be more problematic for teens, though, since they have less experience behind the wheel. (Though obviously we’re not condoning any kind of distracted driving for anyone at any age.)

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety did some research on this subject and found that the most common distractions included:

• Interacting with passengers
• Using cell phones
• Looking at something else inside the car
• Staring at something outside the car
• Singing and “getting into” the music
• Personal grooming
• Reaching for something in the car

These all seem like simple, harmless things, but they can all lead to traffic collisions. Our program focuses on teens understand the seriousness of the situation.

Dealing with Extreme Road Conditions

U-turns, three-point turnabouts, parallel parking, and a wide range of other maneuvers can be taught and learned quick efficiently – but learning how to safely complete those maneuvers in unexpected weather conditions is something else entirely.

We focus on sharpening your teen’s driving skills to a high enough level that they can safely deal with rain, snow, fog, ice, wind, and even low light conditions.

Dealing with Traffic

It often seems like you’re the only one out on the road who actually knows how to driver properly. We understand that feeling, but we teach our young drivers to be tolerant of others and find safe ways to handle other drivers who are all too aggressive, oblivious, or unsafe.

Our teen driver’s ed courses make sure our drivers understand how things like bad weather creates tense situations, which always bring out the worst in others.

(This is an area where you, as a parent, can help by modeling the best behaviors.)

We show teens effective ways to deal with other drivers, read the traffic flows, make safe choices by not assuming anything about others drivers and what they can see/will do. 

We also help teen drivers understand that if they feel uncomfortable because of the current driving conditions it’s okay to slow down or even pull over until they feel better. We teach that there’s no reason to feel like they have to go faster if someone is tailgating, or pass someone who is going the speed limit, or engage in any unsafe behavior just to make a point.

Building Your Confidence

Confidence is critical for safe driving. We want to help your teens feel safe and secure behind the wheel so they’ll be able to make good decisions in the moment when something unexpected happens.

We don’t want anyone clenching up, holding their breath, or being indecisive when something occurs on the road. We want your teens to be confident in their knowledge and skills any time they’re behind the wheel. 

Cutting out the Road Rage 

Like it or not, road rage can happen to the best of us. At some point, there is simply going to be something that makes you angry while you’re driving.

Teens can have an even harder time dealing with these sudden surges of anger, so we want to make sure they can fall back on some important guidelines.

1. Never do anything that would force someone else to change their speed or direction on the road.
2. Don’t attribute anything to malice that could be explained by ignorance. In other words: whatever they did probably wasn’t personal
3. Be aware of your mood and make sure you’re not projecting a bad day onto someone’s bad driving.
4. Never escalate the situation.
5. Be the generous driver. 

And if someone else has failed to follow these guidelines and is raging at you, then we teach how to stay as safe as possible despite the anger of others.

Start Your Teens with More than the Basics

Getting a driver’s license is a huge step in your teen’s life. However, while they’re going to be excited to get out and enjoy their new independence, it’s important to make sure they understand more than the basic driving skills. 

Before they get on the road, let’s teach them how to go beyond the basics and make every trip safer.

Ever since Bluetooth earpieces and wireless headphones came onto the market, drivers have utilized them for a better approach to hands-free driving. However, there have been many conversations over if it is truly better to use these types of devices over using a phone. Drivers can still be distracted with the use of headphones and earpieces, so using them wisely can make all the difference in driving abilities.

What is Considered Safe Use?

There are sounds that drivers need to pay attention to while driving like emergency vehicle sirens, honking from other drivers, and even sounds to let you know if something is wrong with your vehicle. If you have headphones on both ears, hearing is seriously restricted and you may not be aware of these noises. 

One way that drivers stay safer is to use their earpieces in one ear or only wear one wireless earbud or headphone. This allows a driver to still listen to conversations and music while keeping one ear out for important sounds. The biggest concern is whether the driver is distracted. The reason talking on the phone while driving is dangerous is because the driver is not focusing on the road. Listening to loud music or an audio book could also distract a driver, even if they have one ear free. Safe driving is dependent on a driver focusing on the road, always.

What Does the Law Say?

Every state has a different law regarding the use of headphones and earpieces. Many do not have any laws restricting their use allow one ear to be used while the other is kept open and free of devices. In Washington, the law states that any headset or earphones that connect to an electronic device that muffles or excludes other sounds is not permitted while driving. Visit this AAA site for a full list of states and their laws regarding earpieces and headphones.

Whether it is legal or not, it is always important to use technology safely while driving. With so many driving safety features being built into vehicles for safer use, make a point to utilize them. Hook your phone or electronic device up to your dashboard and listen to music and audio books through the speakers. Make any necessary phone calls through your vehicle’s Bluetooth capabilities. Just make sure everything it hooked up and functioning before shifting the car into drive.

To learn other safe driving tips and how to implement them, consider enrolling yourself or your new teen driver in the best driving school. Developing safe habits from the beginning means a driver is more likely to keep using them throughout their driving years.