4 Hassle-Free Ways to Share The Family Car
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It’s always a proud moment when your kids pass their driving test, and you want them to look forward to many years of happy driving now that they have some independence. But, if you’re unable to purchase a car for them outright, you will need to share the car with them for a while until they can save up for a car of their own. Seems simple enough, right? Well, it can be more stressful than you think, so here are 4 hassle-free ways to share the family car.
Outline Ground Rules
The first thing your family should do when deciding how to share the car is to outline the ground rules. This will include everything from who is responsible for filling up the petrol to who should have priority if everyone needs the car. As a parent, you don’t want to be too authoritarian with it, otherwise what’s the point? But, if you’re the one paying for the Car Finance and will need it the most, your kid should understand. You still want to share the car, but this may be more of an allowance rather than actually sharing evenly.
Check Your Insurance Policy
You don’t want your kid to be stopped while driving through town (especially if the car looks far too expensive for them to own). So, you need to check your details and add them to the insurance policy to keep them safe wherever they go, even if it’s just nipping to the shops. Failing to produce insurance when requested (or within the next 14 days) could ruin their driving career before they have even started, so this is as important as them getting their license.
Create a Rota
Rotas are not the most fun things to make, but they are an effective way of helping everyone understand when they can use the car and when they can’t. You might need it every day for work, but after five o’clock, your child can use it as much as they please. The same goes for weekends, and there may even be days where no one needs it, giving them the chance to get behind the wheel and go on a day trip somewhere with friends.
Have A Solution for Emergencies
Any parent and their children need to understand the top causes of traffic accidents for new drivers. You must make a point to your kids to drive safely and obey all traffic laws. They shouldn’t show off to friends or be egged on to drive recklessly. Of course, they may also be involved in an accident that isn’t their fault, so give them information for roadside maintenance and tell them to call you no matter where they are. If they are sensible about it, you can trust them to use the car when they need it.
Sharing is Caring
The best way to improve your kids’ confidence now that they have passed their test is to let them drive as much as possible, but you can’t always let them have free reign over the car. To save any argument, you need to find solutions for car sharing that benefits everybody, even if it means they will need to ask a friend for a lift sometimes.
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