Smart Teen Driving Safety is a Parents Responsibility

Yes, mom and dad, you read the headline correctly! It’s up to you to protect your child before they get behind the wheel and continue to do so throughout their driving lives.  Yes, even after they turn 21!  As a defensive driving instructor, I have seen many teens, twenty somethings, thirty somethings and even beyond come through my classes telling me they made a “stupid mistake”.  Its never too early and never too late to remind your teen about safe driving practices.

This article is an appeal to you, the parents of young drivers out there, to never stop trying and never over trust that your teen will always make the right decisions.  Now, I’m not saying we have to be over protective as parents, just responsible enough to stay on top of our young drivers.  It only takes one bad decision to change a person’s life forever!  Your straight ’A', do no wrong, always makes the right decision, angel of a teen can still make the same wrong judgment as the teen, barely getting by, always hangin’ around the wrong crowd riff raff teen.  Parents of good grade students, have the same responsibility as parents of the troubled teen.  Everyone is equal when behind the wheel.

There are many ways you can help your teen drive more responsibly as you’ll find just a selection of tips below:

1- Choose the vehicle wisely.  A 5.0 liter Ford Mustang Convertible is never the right choice for any sixteen year old.  Now that doesn’t mean they have to drive the family mini-van, but that’s not that bad of an idea either.  Stay conservative with the vehicle. A standard 4 door sedan with a good safety rating is much better than any sports car.  And don’t ever sacrifice safety features in a vehicle because your teen “can’t afford the better car”.  Wait a little longer until the safer car is affordable.  After all, it’s only their life on the line!

2- Keep communication with your teen open.  Make sure they know they can come to you with any problems and you’ll promise never to get mad or hold it against them.

3- Be a good role model.  Kids learn by example.  They are ALWAYS watching how you do things.  The ’ole do as I say, not as I do, is bogus!  Drive responsibly yourself, wear your seat belt, don’t speed, slow down at yellow lights.  You know what I mean.

4- Take a  defensive driving class WITH your teen, don’t just send them.  Going to the class with them, shows you care.  Invest the time in yourself and your teen.  One simple tip from the class that you learn or are reminded of, may just save you from an accident or help to reduce the severity of one.

5- Order an online defensive driving course for your teen, then step up and take the course WITH them.  You both may just learn something together.

6- Make sure your teen knows the insurance implications of having a less than perfect driving record and how that relates to hard dollars because of INCREASED INSURANCE RATES!  Running a red light because you thought it was still ‘pink’, can have a heavy insurance premium impact even if it didn’t cause an accident, this time!

So what’s the bottom line.  Be a responsible parent and work with your teen and let them learn from a good example.