Finn passed his test - Susan McCormack

On Wednesday Finn passed his driving test, just two months since turning seventeen. On Friday morning we went to pick up his car. On Friday evening he had his first 'incident' ....

It is so easy to judge - I would be doing so myself if it weren't my son I was talking about. So I do want to make some excuses. Finn has been manoeuvring my car and my husband's truck in and out of the driveway for years. At one point we had quite a large driveway and he became really proficient at judging space. His two older brothers both have their driving licences and he has been passionate about learning to drive for as long as he can remember. He took to driving like a fish in water and drove almost everyday for at least 20 minutes. If I was away working then we made up for it when I came home.

He possesses great self-awareness and has an amazing sense of fairness and justice even at his young age. He is able to speak out in defence of others and also can calmly and reasonably argue his own case. He is not a huge risk taker and spends most evenings at home playing music.

So what, you might be thinking? Well, this is about the way he thinks because safe driving is all about being self-aware and taking responsibility. So what happened last night?

At about 8pm he rang to say one of the tyres had popped ... I noticed the passive language and asked him to explain. It turns out he had been in a car park and had steered sharply bashing a kerb so hard that the tyre burst ... He got this all sorted and rang me a couple more times to update me on his whereabouts.

When he came home he admitted that he had been messing about in the car park. He said words to this effect, 'It just happened so quickly and easily. I'm pleased it happened because it has knocked my confidence. I feel crap and recognise the burden. How would I ever live with myself if I crashed and killed one of my friends?'