A major milestone in your teens life as they inch their way into adulthood is getting their driver’s license. Although this provides more freedom for your teen, this privilege comes with a lot of responsibility.
Teen brains are still developing motor coordination and judgement skills, which are essential for safe driving. Even more reason for tons of practice and conversations about safety.
Statically, teen drivers (16-19) are nearly 3 times more likely than drivers age 20+ to be in a fatal accident. As a parent, you naturally want to protect your teen from risk. For some quick safe teen driving info, check out a collection of safe driving tips below.
- Practice makes perfect. The more your teen practices driving, the better prepared they will be for their driving test.
- Avoid distractions. Turning phones to silent is a great way to avoid those tempting text alerts while driving. Select music before leaving, this will keep their hands on the wheel and not fiddling with the radio.
- Space. Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye, so it is important o keep a safe distance from other vehicles on the road in case of an emergency or the need to brake suddenly.
- Turn Signals. Do not be shy with the signal; flip on that flashing light to switch lanes. Not only is this the law, but it is also a smart driving habit to let other drivers know to give some space.
- Road conditions. Heavy rain, snow, rush hour traffic, and even driving in places with different roadways and layouts can require some extra sharp reflexes and attention.
- Emotions. Remind your teens to take five if they are feeling angry or sad and not to get behind the wheel if they are feeling those intense emotions.
- Basic car maintenance. It can be helpful to keep a log of regular car maintenance and cleaning schedules, so everyone is on the same, safe page.
- Life 360. Using this app on your phone and your teens, you will be able to monitor not only where your teen is at all at times, but you can see how many incidents (if any) of hard braking, speeding, and rapid acceleration occurred during drive time.
- Agreement. The CDC recommends that parents and teens write up a driving agreement. This will let everyone know the rules and expectations.
- Most important, BUCKLE UP! We know wearing seatbelts save lives. When your teen is in the driver seat, they can be in charge of making sure all passengers are wearing a seatbelt.
If your teen finds themselves with a traffic ticket, KNOW WHO TO CALL; Call Tad at 417-865-4400