John A. Marker

My son took my grandson for his first lesson at driving at 13. God help us all!!

FOURSPEEDVETTE

What was he thinking?!!! 13 years old? Did he not realize the risk he as a parent was taking letting this kid drive on a public roadway? Let alone putting this child at real risk of causing an accident and possibly hurting himself and innocent others? I call this just plain stupid and irresponsible on a parents part. No excuses.

John A. Marker

New housing development with roads only, level lots and no one around. Not on city streets.

N42375

Couldn't agree more with you. Just gives me such a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that I'll get to share the road with one more person who makes another bad decision!

Tom400CFI

Oh good lord man....calm down already! What an alarmist.

I started when I was 9....and yes we were "just plain stupid and irresponsible" because it was on a "public road". Now, this was in the country (very rural), there was no traffic at all, and you'd be more likely to encounter a cow, than a car, but still we were all the things you said.

I also bought and owned my first boat when I was 12. 10' speed boat w/a 60hp Merc. Boat would go over 50 mph. INSANE!! Right? I mean, I'd say that we must not have "realize the risk he was taking letting this kid drive on a public waterway? Let alone putting this child at real risk of causing an accident and possibly hurting himself and innocent others? I mean...I could have DROWNED!! We must have been "just plain stupid and irresponsible" for that too, right?

Thing is, I never HAD an issue. No one was ever hurt at all, and as a result of my early training//understanding of "how things work", I never have had an accident. First car was a Trans Am, drove it year round (snow), out to Colorado for ski trips, over Monarch pass in a blizzard...no issue. Why? I already knew how to drive.

Then there is the issue of "LIVING" vs. Hiding from life, in the interest of "safety". Know your risks, manage them, and LIVE.


To the OP. Way cool vid! Props to you guys for getting him started with PROPER training, early. He'll be better off for it.

ch@0s

LOL come on guys, i was driving at 11 years old. At at 14 I was driving around town. don't be so hard on the guy.

John A. Marker

I was driving tractors at 12. I came back from three weeks on the farm and bragging about my driving. My Dad took me out in his car (3 on the tree) and had me drive a little. Made a fool of myself quickly. Learned a lot and have been a very good driver since.......I even buy my underwear at KMART .

I know that are plenty of you here from Nebraska, Iowa or other states that were driving by themselves at 14.

JC316

Wow, can't believe some of the people in here. My sister let me drive when I was 13, one of my friends was driving around town alone at 12. Hell, every single person in my driving class had driven a car before, including one that was driving himself to the classes.

Klondike

When I was a kid, learning to drive at a young age (10 or 11) was a rite of passage. Practiced on the tractor and farm truck and on gravel back roads. When it came time for your Drivers License, we were ready to pass on the first try.We knew all the rules of the road by then, Everybody could drive a stick, and even had a little skill in skid and braking control from "practicing" on those gravel roads. Getting your drivers license was one of the most important things in a young mans life back then. It seems now the most important thing is getting a new I-phone and having the loudest radio. I have a Nephew who can't even drive an automatic and has no desire to even learn!

c4_4ya

Did you fail to notice how many babies in the road he was able to avoid hitting? Pretty good for a 13 yr old!!!

QCVette

I had driven at 13 also. My dad even let me drive his new car home from the dealership. I drove it before my mom did.

That is only 1 year before it was legal with a learner's permit.

FASTAZU

Sounds like a well supervised and well chosen spot for the first lesson. I think its great to start them young as they will learn respect for the right foot.

FOURSPEEDVETTE

I guess some of you guys are right. Go ahead and let the children drive. Nothing at all wrong with it. It's really cool to see them driving around with absolutely no clue what's really going on. Some of you that say you were driving at 12 and 13 years of age........wow! Really impressive too! Impressive only in the way you didn't kill yourselves or someone else. Do you realize the parents could be arrested for permitting such an act. Think about that the next time you put a child behind the wheel.

JC316

And chucking them into driving class with zero experience is better? Seems way safer to take them to a rural/undeveloped area to hone their skills beforehand. Do you think kids magically gain driving experience by waiting till they're 15?

Paul Workman

In rural IA where I was raised, we "kids" drove farm machinery soon as we were big enough to reach the peddles, and drove the pickup to town when I was 12. By the time I was 16 I'd been driving for 3 years, mowing pastures, driving balers and combines, driving farm machinery: we ALL did it - no big deal. It's what we did as ranch hands!

Dt86

When I was 14 my Mom let me drive in a cemetery. I was scared to death if I hit a tombstone, I'd be haunted for life. Needless to say I stayed on the road.

ghlkal

FOURSPEEDVETTE

No matter how great some of you think this idea is, the fact of the matter is that driving a motor vehicle, supervised or not, rural road or not, being under legal age is illegal any way you look at it. I'd like to see if your positive answers to this would remain the same when you're being arrested for putting a child in danger (that's what it's called) or permitting an under age driver to drive on a public road. Rural areas are still public roadways even if they're in an undeveloped housing area. Sad to see I'm definitely in the minority on this post. I'm out of here.......

SeanHM

^ Bet he wears a bicycle helmet. The earlier a kid learns anything, the better they are at it. Sorry, but you're alarmist attitude is one of the many things wrong with our country and why freedom is dying.
My dad had me on a Ford tractor BEFORE I could reach the pedals. He'd set the throttle and hop off. Heck, at 13 he would just toss me the keys and tell me not to go far. Should every kid be allowed to do that? No, but then there are an awful lot of 40 year olds who shouldn't be driving.

JC316

Driving a nice sports car, I'm sure that you never break the speed limit, or spin the tires on the pavement, or have an exhibition of power. We break ******** laws every single day, but most cops will let it slide. It would take a real douchebag cop to arrest someone for teaching their kid to drive.