mumto3girls
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2008
Our state does not allow kids to obtain their permit until they are 16 and then they have to have the permit for 6 months prior to getting their license. At that point it’s a junior license. No driving past 11 PM unless for work and no driving more than 2 unrelated minors in the car unless there is a parent in the car. At 17 if they’ve had no violations/accidents and have taken driver’s ed, they can apply for a regular license. Otherwise they wait until 18.
My oldest got her license in December 2016. She was so excited and as soon as she got home she and her sisters decided to drive around and look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Not sure I have ever been more anxious than when I watched my car back down the driveway with all 3 of my kids inside.
Initially I made sure her friends parents knew that she would be driving rather than me when she made plans as she was one of the first of her peers to get a license. I actually still do that if she is going to be driving friends of her younger sisters. At first she just drove locally. Right after she turned 17 she wanted to take 3 friends to a lake about 2 hours away for the day. She had done only a little highway driving at that point so I took her to a section of highway where the ramps tend to be a bit short and had her practice getting off and on the highway. I thought if she could do it well there she’d be fine with the other ones. There were a few friends of hers that I thought were loud and obnoxious when I drove them and so initially I didn’t allow them to ride with her. After about a year I started to allow her to drive in the city alone or with friends.
I still talk to her often about who she rides with. She did tell me at one point that one of her closest friends was taking a lot of risks in the car (driving too fast, not waiting for windows to defrost, unsafe lane changes, tailgating) and that she would no longer be riding with her. That along with some scary texts messages from her to my DD that made me worry that the other girl may be thinking about harming herself made me contact the parents. A really tough phone call to make. And now my middle one is 15 and has a few older friends/teammates. I’m not sure she is as level headed as her sister but I will keep talking. It really is a leap of faith.
My oldest got her license in December 2016. She was so excited and as soon as she got home she and her sisters decided to drive around and look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Not sure I have ever been more anxious than when I watched my car back down the driveway with all 3 of my kids inside.
Initially I made sure her friends parents knew that she would be driving rather than me when she made plans as she was one of the first of her peers to get a license. I actually still do that if she is going to be driving friends of her younger sisters. At first she just drove locally. Right after she turned 17 she wanted to take 3 friends to a lake about 2 hours away for the day. She had done only a little highway driving at that point so I took her to a section of highway where the ramps tend to be a bit short and had her practice getting off and on the highway. I thought if she could do it well there she’d be fine with the other ones. There were a few friends of hers that I thought were loud and obnoxious when I drove them and so initially I didn’t allow them to ride with her. After about a year I started to allow her to drive in the city alone or with friends.
I still talk to her often about who she rides with. She did tell me at one point that one of her closest friends was taking a lot of risks in the car (driving too fast, not waiting for windows to defrost, unsafe lane changes, tailgating) and that she would no longer be riding with her. That along with some scary texts messages from her to my DD that made me worry that the other girl may be thinking about harming herself made me contact the parents. A really tough phone call to make. And now my middle one is 15 and has a few older friends/teammates. I’m not sure she is as level headed as her sister but I will keep talking. It really is a leap of faith.
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