My daughter got her drivers license today! Did it seem like every driver was suddenly an idiot now that your baby was driving out there with them?

I wanted to make every kid of mine wear a helmet.

I don't have any biological children and my step-daughter learned to drive while living half a continent away. (But I did teach her to drive a stick shift.) I have noticed for a long time that there are a lot of idiot drivers, and it seems to be getting worse.

I wanted to hold my breath until they came back. Of course I couldn't do that, but I was a nervous wreck for a long time.

Not any more than any other day.

I did however have a weird feeling about sharing the road with them. That feeling was hit home the first time I happened upon him out and about. He didn't even see me. He was too busy enjoying the freedom.

Most other drivers don't have the patience for new drivers, which does make them idiots. To be honest, when my daughter first started driving, I feared for everyone's safety. Nowadays, I'd rather be in the passenger seat with her driving compared to my sons.

YES . . .

It is like you getting a particular car, and all of a sudden you notice there is a LOT of this particular type of car out there . . .

You are focused on your babies safety on the road, so now all of sudden those idiot drivers that were part of the background white-noise of every day commutes are front and center . . . They are out to cause harm. I found myself beeping my horn at drivers running red lights or not stopping at stops signs and yelling "My son could be coming through this intersection you idiot!"

Defensive driving is the key. It took some effort but I managed to teach all my children how to drive defensively. Regardless even if they had a driver's license untill thiey passed my test I would not let them drive alone. Back then my test was for them start out on a Monday morning, during rush hour, drive once around the DC Beltway them North to Baltimore and the Baltimore circle then back home. If we made it without incident and without the need to change underwear they passed.

To some degree, yes.  But at least I thought I had minimized the possibility that our kids were not one of those idiots.

The Smith System still teaches the 5 basic principles I learned back in 1963.

I still use them every time I drive.

www.platinumdrivers.com/smith-system-andprinciples-of-safe-d