Educate Yourself (and Your Teen Driver)

There are several ways to educate yourself and your teen driver. 

• Begin the conversation about good driving habits and seatbelt use at an early age. 
• Don't wait until your teen blows out the candles at their 16th birthday party. Seatbelt usage can be taught from infancy and pointing out good driving habits and expectations should begin around age 13, before your child ever gets behind the wheel.
• Lead by example.   
• Enroll your teen in a driver's education program if you do not have adequate time (or patience!) to spend  preparing them.
• Don't assume your teen will take a driver's ed course at school.  Unfortunately, driver's ed is no longer included in the curriculum of many high schools.
• Talk to other parents and get recommendations on private driver's education companies.  Visit the facility and ask questions about their programs.
• Do they have liability insurance?  How much?
• How many hours will they participate in on the road practice?
• How can you reinforce the concepts at home?
• Practice makes perfect.  The more hours your teen logs behind the wheel, the better prepared they will be to handle unexpected situations.
• Once your teen begins driving, establish expectations.
• Don't assume your teen has the same expectations as you.
• It may even be helpful to draft a contract of your expectations so that your teen is fully aware of them.
• Seatbelts are not an optional choice. Insist on seatbelt usage 100% of the time.
• Wearing seatbelts can reduce the risk of dying in a crash by 45 percent.
• Teens have the lowest rate of seatbelt use.
• Establish a curfew
• More than 40 percent of teen auto deaths occur between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
• Almost 60 percent of teens’ night time auto deaths occur before midnight.