Emergency Kit for New Drivers
My twins just bought their first car. Dad is trying to keep them safe.
My kids just bought their first car. They are 17-year-old twins, and they worked all last summer to save up for insurance and a decent used car.
I’m immensely proud… And mildly terrified.
I’m not a helicopter parent, but obviously, every parent wants their child to be safe. However, I also want them to have independence and confidence, so wrapping them to their beds with duct tape until adulthood, while tempting, was not an option.
At the very least I wanted them to be prepared to save their own lives in the event of a vehicular emergency.
I wrote them a brief guide. I knew they wouldn’t listen to me to impart my decades of wisdom, but at least if I gave them the basics and the tools, chances are they’d survive.
I prefaced the conversation like this.
“I don’t want you to die. I know you probably won’t, but if you die because you were stupid, it’s going to make me look like a really bad father.”
They looked at me as if to say, “You already told us, ‘don’t do drugs’”.
I told them there are three ways you can die in your car that are stupid.
