For any parent, the moment that your child passes their driving test is an undoubtedly daunting experience. Whilst you may have had months to prepare for it, you’ve not even contemplated that moment when they’re legally allowed to drive out on the big wide road world on their own.

Now, I know it’s only a natural parental instinct to want to wrap them up in cotton wool and drive them around everywhere yourself, but there comes a time when you have let them go to enjoy their own independence and freedom.

However, there are things you can do to both increase their safety and ease your own parental worries, whilst they’re out on the road.

Enroll Them In a Pass Plus Course

Although your child has already invested a lot of time and money into initially learning to drive, once they’ve passed their test, you can arrange for them to take ‘Pass Plus’ – a 6-hour driving scheme that allows new drivers to gain more confidence in other driving conditions that they may not have experienced in their normal lessons, such as town driving, all-weather driving, driving out of town, night driving, driving on dual carriageways and driving on motorways.

The ‘Pass Plus’ scheme can usually be done with their current driving instructor and in the car they’ve recently been learning in, however, many driving instructors will be happy to do it your child’s own car – should they have one waiting for them after they’ve passed! Once the 6 hours have been completed, it requires no test, and your child will receive a certificate stating they’ve completed it. Undertaking the scheme may also reduce the cost of their insurance if you notify their car insurance provider once it’s been completed.

Enforce Mobile Phone Rules

One of the biggest and most common problems amongst new, young drivers is the distraction of a mobile phone whilst on the road. We all know how much they’re already glued to them when they’re using them in the home, but quickly checking a test message or replying to a BBM whilst behind the wheel can have devastating impacts.

Once your youngster has passed their driving test, it’s important to sit down with them and discuss a personal set of rules that they must adhere as soon as they get behind the wheel to drive. Encourage them to switch their mobile phones once they get in their car, in order to make sure there’s no possibility of distraction whilst they’re on the road. As well as removing the distraction, doing so will also have the added benefit of saving their battery life, should they break down or run into a situation where they may need to call you.

Fit a GPS Tracking System

Now, I know you’ve probably read the heading of this and thought “surely having a tracking system fitted is going a little too far when it comes to parental worrying?’ but, hear me out, because having a GPS tracking system fitted in your child’s car will not only put your worries to rest, but it’ll also make sure they do actually drive safely.

I’m sure that you’ve probably already sat down and discussed with your child the importance of driving safely, but we know how exciting passing your driving test is, and all you do is want to get out on the road, show your car off to your friends and offer to drive them around everywhere. But, unfortunately, sometimes the excitement can often lead to lack of concentration and even sensible awareness, which can lead to accidents.

Are you sat at home late at night worrying where your child is if they haven’t got home at the time they said they would? Well, with a GPS system, such as those available from Track What Matters, you can easily track their location, track what route they’ve taken, and even track what speed they’ve been travelling at – so you’ll easily be able to tell both if they’re safe and if they’ve been also been driving safely.