Showing posts with label Parent-teen driving agreement. Show all posts
You Know the Laws. Now Set the Rules
Posted by Unknown in AAA, AAA Foundation, Learners Permits, Parent-teen driving agreement, teen drivers on Monday, May 21, 2012
As a parent, you’ve been setting rules and expectations since your kids were infants. Now that they’re learning to drive, the rules you establish just might save a life.
When your teen obtains a learner’s permit, you will be required to ride in the car when he or she is driving. This is your chance to impart driving wisdom directly, in real-time. But AAA Foundation research has suggested that teens don’t get enough practice managing a variety of challenging road conditions, such as driving at rush hour, in inclement weather, or at night. Getting this practice with a parent in the car is much safer for a new driver than first experiencing such conditions later on when driving independently.
When it comes time for your teen to trade in a learner’s permit for a license, your presence in the vehicle is no longer a legal requirement. But that doesn’t mean your role as coach, partner, and supervisor of your teen’s driving has ended (despite the fact that Foundation studies have shown that parental presence in the car plummets at this point). Laws vary depending on what state you live in, but all states have some form of graduated driver licensing (GDL) provisions, which impose restrictions on novice teen drivers for a period of time. These may include things like late-night driving prohibitions, passenger limits, or cell phone bans.
Knowing your state’s GDL laws is critical, but remember – these are simply the minimum legal requirements your teen must obey. As a parent, you have the right to establish stronger rules if you see fit, and to supervise your teen’s driving privileges even from outside the car. One way we recommend managing this: sign a parent-teen driving agreement that spells out when, why, where, and with whom your teen is allowed to drive, and stick to the rules you and your teen generate together. For more information and ideas about such agreements, visit www.teendriving.aaa.com.
Parent involvement in the learning-to-drive process is recognized as an important factor in keeping teens safe. Several states even require that parents attend special classes about the teen licensure and learning process, and ongoing Foundation research is investigating how to “train the trainers,” so to speak, as effectively as possible. Remember that driving is inherently risky for everyone, and even more so for teens. Nobody is in a better position to help them learn to manage and reduce those risks than you.
National Youth Traffic Safety Month
Posted by Unknown in AAAFTS, NYTSM, Parent-teen driving agreement, teens, teens driving on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
For teens across the country, May is a special time of year. Spring sports are heating up, the school year is wrapping up, and preparations for prom and graduation are revving up.
For parents, educators, and those of us in the safety community, May is also an exciting time, as we share in the pride and enthusiasm that mark the end of a successful year and the eve of summer. But it is also a poignant time, as we recognize that the celebrations take a toll and the risk of teen crashes jumps.
National Youth Traffic Safety Month (NYTSM) serves as an important reminder that the only way for this to be a joyous time of year is for it also to be a safe one. Teens face a number of challenges on the road. Their inexperience,combined with immaturity, make them four times more likely to be involved in a crash than other drivers.
With this risk comes devastating consequences: traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, claiming over 3,100 young lives in 2010 alone. That’s more than 3,100 families who won’t see their teens go off to college, or get their first job, or graduate, or become parents themselves. Many say this is tragic; I say it is outrageous.
All month long I’ll be posting entries here related to teen traffic safety, covering topics like graduated driver licensing, driver education, and parental involvement in the learning process. Later this month we’ll be releasing new findings regarding teen crash risk when passengers are present, and we’ll be joining with AAA and our other partners to promote the youth traffic safety message at events and in media nationwide.
I hope you’ll join us in observing NYTSM, and I wish all of you a happy, celebratory, and safe summer.
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