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| ROAD READY TEENS PARENT'S GUIDEGet Road Ready: A Parent’s Guide to Safely Ease Teens into Driving Facts Parents and Teens Should Know About Driving
This shocking reality is due mostly to two factors—driver inexperience and maturity level behind the wheel. With so many teens being injured or killed on our nation’s roadways, teen driving safety has become a national priority and a top concern for parents according to a survey recently commissioned by DaimlerChrysler.6 Road Ready Teens offers a simple set of steps for parents to implement in the home to help ease teens into driving. Based on research and principles advocated by the nation’s top safety organizations, the program’s tips and tools help teens gain the necessary driving experience and maturity behind the wheel before tackling high-risk driving situations. Road Ready Teens recommendations build upon laws that are already on the books in most states, as well as on the skills and principles teens often learn in driver’s education courses. The Road Ready Teens program guides parents on how to incorporate proven, lifesaving strategies into their teens’ beginning driving stages.
The Role of Parents Sure, parents want teens to have their freedom, and teen drivers can be helpful when it comes to family driving responsibilities. But teens first need to become safeprenota alberghi Ikskile drivers, which requires extensive practice and experience. While driver’s education and state licensing laws provide the foundation for learning, it is essential that parents take an active role in teaching teens to drive. Research shows that when parents take an active role in their teens’ driving education and set certain driving guidelines, their teens’ chances of being in a crash can be reduced by up to one-third.7 Reducing teens’ chances of being in a crash helps protect their lives and prevents costly medical bills and increased insurance rates. As a parent, you can: Implement Road Ready Teens in your home Review the recommendations, set the guidelines and personalize the Parent-Teen Contract with your teen. Require your teen to play Road Ready StreetWise, a state-of-the-art video game that is challenging, exciting and helps teens better understand the risks they face in their early driving years. Talk with your teen about the privilege of driving and the risks that come with being behind the wheel. Experience will help your teen become a safer driver and help them recognize the risks other drivers pose. By knowing and understanding these risks, teens are one step closer to becoming safer drivers. Lillehammer luxury hotelsKnow the laws The Road Ready Teens program builds on the laws in most states. Make sure you and your teen know your state’s laws for young drivers. Use the map on this site to link to your state’s driver’s licensing Web site. Be a good role model Teens look to their parents for guidance and as role models behind the wheel. Teach your teen to be a safer driver by modeling safe driving. Follow all traffic laws and always buckle up in the front and back. Never drink and drive. Choose the right vehicle for teen drivers Turn to the experts for advice or more information by visiting www.aaapublicaffairs.com or www.nhtsa.gov. Know the Risks and Start Early… Teen crashes can be prevented. Studies prove that many teen crashes are caused by distractions such as other teens in the vehicle, talking on cell phones, listening to loud music, or eating and drinking. Alcohol and speeding also are factors in many teen crashes. Another risk is a lack of experience driving at night and in adverse weather, when visibility is reduced and reaction time is slowed. Buckle Up! Data shows that the most effective way to reduce the chance of death or injury in a crash is by using a seat belt.8 Unfortunately, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use when compared with other age groups.9 Therefore, it’s important that you communicate to your teen that seat belt use by all occupants — front seat and back — is required at every level of driving. Dangers of Impaired Driving Research also shows that during a typical weekend, an average of one teen dies per hour in a motor vehicle crash and 45% of these crashes involve alcohol.10 Make it clear to your teen that drinking alcohol or using drugs and then driving is unacceptable. Teens should never drink and drive or ride with someone who has been drinking. Restrict Teen Passengers Research shows that teen drivers, ages 16 and 17, driving with even one teen passenger are one and a half times more likely to be involved in a crash than when driving alone. With two teen passengers in the vehicle, the risk more than doubles. With three or more teen passengers, it’s three to five times more likely that teens will be involved in a crash than if they were driving alone.11 That’s why you should limit the number of passengers with whom your teens drive. Start early Set driving ground rules in the beginning to help your teen learn to drive and gain experience. In the early stages of driving, work with your teen to determine limits that everyone can live with. Slowly introduce him/her to high-risk driving situations such as bad weather, nighttime driving, heavy traffic, and highway driving. The following guidelines are recommended by safety experts and have been proven to not only lessen the risks among teen drivers, but also to help them learn to drive more safely. Some states have some or all of these guidelines in place referred to as Graduated Driver Licensing. Other states have no system that allows new drivers to learn within a more controlled and safer structure. Even if your state’s laws do not incorporate all of these guidelines, as a parent, you can set “house rules” that offer more protection than your state’s laws. The guidelines include three stages: the Learner’s Permit level, the Intermediate Driver level, and the Full Driver level. Learner’s Permit Level In the Learner’s Permit level, it is recommended that you:
Intermediate Driver Level In the Intermediate Driver level, it is recommended that you:
Remember, you can require that your teen repeat a level if a rule is ever broken. Full Driver Level After successfully completing the first two levels, your teen graduates to the Full Driver level. At the Full Driver level, teens have complete driving privileges as provided by the law. However, all drivers at this level should follow the sound principles learned in the Learner’s Permit and Intermediate Driver levels:
At this level, you should feel comfortable knowing that your teen is mature and experienced enough to drive safely. However, if you still feel uncomfortable with some aspects of your teen’s driving, consider continuing some of the guidelines outlined in the Intermediate Driver level. You hold the keys! Parents can and should set the rules. If at any time your teen driver violates the driving rules agreed upon or receives a traffic citation, you should consider waiting before moving him/her to the next level. In addition, consider one of the following consequences:
Also, do not be afraid to say no if you think your teen has not had enough driving experience or is not mature enough to move to the next driving level. Your main priority is teaching safe driving habits to help ensure that your teen will be as careful and protected as possible. For more information on helping your teen learn to drive, contact your local AAA club or call 1-800-327-3444 and ask for a copy of Teaching Your Teen to Drive. Create a Parent-Teen Contract Create your own Parent-Teen Contract based on the recommendations in this guide, which are proven to keep young drivers safe. (These recommendations are listed in the previous section.) We know parents need flexibility when they teach their teens to drive. However, be aware that if you relax the restrictions, the risk to your teen will increase. Click here for a blank PDF version of the Road Ready Teens Parent's Guide. You can also get a printed contract at your local DaimlerChrysler dealer. Post the contract on the refrigerator or bulletin board. Put a copy in the car. Refer back to it. Then there’s never any question about the terms of the contract. Road Ready Teens was created by DaimlerChrysler with help from AAA, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the National Safety Council (NSC) and is based on research presented at the NSC’s Symposium on Graduated Driver Licensing. DaimlerChrysler would like to thank the following safety organizations that offered guidance and editorial review of the Parent's Guide: AAA, MADD, the NSC, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). For more information on the research behind teen driving risks and the guidelines proposed in this guide, please refer to the National Safety Council’s Family Guide to Teen Driving Safety, which will be available soon online at www.nsc.org. Check out the other sections of this Web site for links to your state’s driving laws, research and statistics, and information on safer driving. Visit the following Web sites for additional information on driving safety and teen driving:
Sources: 1 Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2000 2 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2000 6 Public Opinion Strategies for DaimlerChrysler, (February 2003). Survey of 400 parents of teenagers 15 to 18. Margin of error: +/- 4.9%. 7 Simpson, H.M. The Evolution and Effectiveness of Graduated Licensing. 17. 11 Preusser, D.F.; Williams, A.F.; Zador, P.L.; and Blomberg, R.D. 1984. The effect of curfew laws on motor vehicle crashes. Law and Policy 6:115-28. 12 Williams, A.F.; Preusser, D.F.; Ferguson, S.A.; and Ulmer, R.G. 1997. Analysis of the fatal crash involvement of 15-year-old drivers. Journal of Safety Research 28:49-54 14 Williams, A.F. Teenage Drivers: Patterns of Risk.
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