Justin Hartley Deals With Dangers Of Teaching His Daughter To Drive

People complain about other drivers all the time and honestly, there are some people who can not be trusted behind the wheel of a car. But, nothing is more terrifying than teaching a teenager how to drive. Justin Hartley is learning this very truth as he teaches his 16-year-old daughter Isabella Justice Hartley to drive.

Justin detailed a particularly “terrifying” moment during the driving adventure with Seth Meyers. During the interview, Justin lamented, “It’s the worst thing in the world. There’s gotta be a better way to do this.”

But at some point, parents have to hand their kids the reigns and just let them do it.

He got too comfortable

Justin explained that the learning process for Isabella is progressive of course. “[Y]ou put them behind the wheel, take them around the street and you keep expanding and we’re kind of at the point where we’re on the freeway and stuff.”

So, Isabella has clearly been doing pretty well if they are driving on the freeway. But then you can never be too careful with teenagers, as Justin is now painfully aware. He told Seth Meyers this story on February 9.

“The other day I take her out and I’m doing the father-daughter thing. I’m tryna teach her how to fill up the tank with gas and all this kind of stuff, thinking, maybe change a tire in a couple weeks,” he reminisced. “We fill up the tank and we’re getting comfortable. And I go into the gas station and I have a sweet tooth so I just stock up on gummy bears.”

He continued the story saying, “I’m in the car, she’s driving, she’s doing great and I’m in the passenger seat. I’m kind of feeling loose and I open up the gummy bears and as I’m eating them—I’m shoving them in my mouth like a child—and I look up and we are cruising through a four-way—a red light! Just reckless!”

But the worst part for Justin was, “She just could not have cared less.” After having Isabella pull over and he calmly told her, “That could have been my last gummy bear. You have to be more careful.”

Seth Meyers, however, questioned his effectiveness given his snack preferences. “I do think it takes away the edge of authority when you’re mowing down a bag of gummy bears as an adult man.”

Justin Hartley now sleeps with one eye open

But apparently, Isabella has a habit of putting her dad in not-so-great situations. This terrifying driving experience happened before Justin’s birthday on January 29, and to relax he had some hot tub time. He and his girlfriend Sofia Pernas were celebrating his upcoming day and enjoying the hot tub when Isabella accidentally locked them outside.

Justin did not say how long they were outside before Isabella finally unlocked the door, but her reaction was concerning. The This Is Us star explained that as she opened the door she simply asked, “Why are you here?”

It took Justin a minute but he joked that it later dawned on him what she meant. Which was: “I can’t believe you’re still here.” Putting it all together Justin Hartley is a little fearful. “And I was replaying the events of the car, locking me out in the rain on my birthday. My daughter—and she’s 16—she’s trying to kill me. And now I’m going to sleep with one eye open.”