8 tips to get the very most out of your Virtual Driving Coach:
Mentality matters: Like so many things in life, your mindset is the most important factor in success. You’ve downloaded a powerful tool to help make safer drivers, and buying in is the most crucial step. Whether you’re just starting or are an experienced driver, there’s always room for improvement, and you can’t begin to improve until you’re open to finding those areas that could be better and working on them.
Respect the relationship: The relationship between parents and their teen drivers is at the very heart of the Virtual Coach. It’s important to remember that the Coach’s purpose isn’t to find reasons for punishment but to target areas for improvement. Parents need to trust teens to make safe decisions behind the wheel, and their teens need to understand that their parents only have their best interests, safety, and well-being in mind.
Expect expectations: It’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t know where you start. One of the best features of the Virtual Coach is that it will build a comprehensive profile for every user. With this knowledge, parents can set reasonable, attainable driving goals for their teens and themselves. Work together to meet those goals, identify new ways to improve, and repeat. Parents can even set rewards for hitting for custom safe driving goals.
Regulate risk: The power of the parent-teen-driving agreement lies in limiting young drivers’ exposure to unnecessary risk. No driver is ever more likely to be involved in a collision than during the year after receiving their license. The coach will help you identify key risk factors, such as driving at night or having multiple friends along for the ride and equip parents with the knowledge to introduce their teen driver to these situations incrementally.
Coach as your copilot: The Virtual Coach works by riding with you as you drive. It’s as simple as activating the application on your phone and then setting it down. Remember, the Coach will register distracted driving, so once you’ve set it down, leave it there until you have reached your destination and turned off your vehicle. Now, you’re ready to see how that individual drive went and how it affects your overall driving score.
Focus on feedback: When the coach detects any areas for improvement during your drive, the virtual coach will suggest tailored feedback in video lessons and games. Each focused on one of the 5 driving performance metrics measured by the coach. These lessons can be accessed and repeated at any time.
Regular review: Once you’ve got the hang of driving with the virtual coach, parents and teens should schedule regular, weekly review sessions. These are excellent opportunities to reevaluate goals, track the week’s progress, establish new expectations, and adjust their driving plans accordingly.
Consistency is key: The more you utilize the Virtual Coach, the more improvement you’ll see in your driving. Though it could be tempting to be satisfied when you experience some initial progress, the real value of the Coach is unlocked by building your driving profile over time. As you use it, you’ll continue to create a more accurate driving profile, enabling the Coach to target those deep-seated driving habits and suggest targeted SPIDER training modules to improve them.
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