Keeping Your Driveway and Yard Safe From Your Teen-Driver

If your teenager is old enough and mature enough to take on driving, it’s a milestone not only for them but for you as well. No matter how excited your child gets over approaching this milestone, you may feel anxious because of it.

As a parent, feeling anxious is understandable. You have to buy learner’s permit insurance, find a car that is safe for teenagers, and potentially teach them how to drive. All of that, plus the fear of letting your kid out onto the road by themselves, can be overwhelming.

Aside from that, anything can become damaged while teaching your teenager to drive. This is why having a guide that helps you prepare for your new teen driver helps diminish anxiety. Remodeling your driveway and front yard is one step you can take to make the process of teaching your teen how to drive less stressful.

Install Lights at the Edge of Driveways

Many parents work during the day, so the only time they have to teach their teen to drive is after they get off work or during the weekend. Depending on what area they live in, the sun may go down earlier in the day. It leaves new drivers with very little time to practice driving while there is still light outside.

Having lights on the edge of your driveway and throughout your landscaping makes it easier for parents and new drivers to see their practice grounds during the week.

The enhanced safety provided even prevents you from becoming flustered if your teen were to accidentally hit something because of lack of sight. This feeling is one of the reasons parents end up making disparaging comments, which is a toxic parenting trait.

Also, the guidance that landscape lighting provides for new drivers when the sun goes down diminishes the risk of having to file a claim with your learner’s permit insurance should an accident occur in the driveway. If you do not have learner’s permit insurance, purchasing some is recommended.

Though the lights help prevent accidents from occurring in your yard, teen drivers are still inexperienced drivers. If by chance your car or your other property is damaged because of their limited driving skills, the coverage could pay for any repairs needed. There are even discounts for good grades and low mileage available with the cost of student car insurance coverage.

Install a Concrete Driveway

Concrete driveways are cost-friendly, low-maintenance, versatile, durable, and they help teenagers get comfortable with the feel of the road. Concrete is suitable for most parts of the country, so it’s readily used on the majority of roads.

Very rarely will a road be made of gravel, pavers, or shell. So if your driveway is made out of concrete, your teen can become more comfortable behind the wheel at a faster rate. 

Once they hit the actual streets, they will be used to how it feels to operate their vehicle on that type of ground. This allows them to keep their focus on other cars, street lights, and street signs.

If you don’t already have concrete on your driveway, installing it is pretty straightforward if you follow various tutorials online. Being that it is cost-friendly, hiring someone to install it can be inexpensive. 

Besides, you do not have to compromise the aesthetics of your home because the design of a concrete driveway can either be elaborate with various colors and designs, or it can be traditional and simple.

Widen Your Driveway

Adjusting your depth perception as a new driver takes time and practice, especially when operating a new car. So widening your driveway a smart safety precaution to make when teaching a teenager to drive. 

Teenagers often bump into the garage when parking or graze the side of houses when parking because of a lack of depth perception in a vehicle.

Widening your driveways is even more crucial for people who wear contacts or glasses because it may take them longer to adjust their depth perception than someone with better vision. Here are some tips to help your teen improve their depth perception at a faster rate if widening your driveway is not an option:

• Practice slowly shifting your gaze from one object to another.

• Rest your good eye (if you have one) before practicing driving.

• Practice driving during the day.

• Take your lessons slower and try not to speed in the vehicle.

Remove Breakable Items

Even with a learner’s permit insurance policy, removing breakable items from your yards is less expensive than filing a claim. Garden beds, gnomes, vases, and any other decorative items are examples of breakable material that should be removed or repositioned from your driveway.

If you decide to add lights to the edge of your driveway for better visibility, you should consider installing in-ground lights that can withstand being driven over. All of these precautions are in case your teen becomes nervous and loses control of the vehicle. 

Keeping the driveway clear of breakable items can prevent you from growing angry if something is broken and can keep your kid from feeling ashamed if they were to break something.

After removing any breakable items, you should better protect your mail and mailbox by digging it deep into the ground, bolstering it, installing a large brick mailbox, repositioning it, or using a post office for the time being. Mailboxes are hit more often than people realize because they are located in an open and vulnerable place. 

Create a Supportive Environment

Beyond changing the physical aspects of your driveway and yard to prepare for your new teen driver, creating a supportive environment is just as important. Accidents can happen when someone is anxious or nervous, leading to them making poor decisions while behind the wheel.

If you are yelling and fussing at your teen as soon as you sit in the car, you are increasing the chances of them making mistakes behind the wheel. Though fear and nervousness are some of the main reasons parents become fussy with their teens, they do not benefit anything. 

There are ways you can overcome parenting fears, and taking the time to learn those ways before driving lessons is a crucial step when adapting your yard for new teen drivers.

Imani Francies writes and researches for the auto insurance comparison site, AutoInsurance.org. She earned a bachelor of arts in film and media and specializes in various forms of media marketing.