How to Keep Your Teenage Driver Safe
2 Sep 2015When it comes to crash rates in the United States, teens have the highest. However, especially dangerous periods of time tends to be from Memorial Day until Labor Day. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the months of June, July, and August have had the most teen crash-related deaths than any other month in the year.
Any parent who has a teen driver has most likely spent many fretful hours waiting for their child to get home after being behind the wheel, especially during the first year of them driving.
Although teen drivers do account for more car accidents than other age groups, this doesn’t mean you can’t help them practice safe driving techniques. By doing this you can not only keep them safe, but also ensure an affordable car insurance rate.
Some practices you can do to help your teen stay safe while driving include:
Setting a Good Example
While driving with your teens, you might think they are not paying attention; however, what you do when you drive does influence your kids. If you are practicing poor driving habits yourself, they will most likely pick them up and practice the same when they drive.
If you are distracted with text messaging, cell phone use, fiddling with your radio or eating while driving, your teen will most likely do the same.
Senior Manager of the National Safety Council’s Teen Driving Initiatives, Kathy Bernstein says that the parents are the number one influencer on teenagers. “Set the example. Put the cellphone away. Put that seat belt on. Signal when you turn.” she says.
Keep Your Cell Phone Off
Various studies conducted on cell phone use while driving indicated that it is fairly equivalent of drunk driving. This is even in the case of hands-free phone use. Some states might prohibit cell phone use while driving. Many states are now making it against the law to text and drive and laws against cell phone use in particular are increasing
Don’t Call your Teens Who Are Driving
According to the US Department of Transportation, there were over 3,000 deaths in 2011 from car crashes where a driver was distracted. Often parents who call their teens while they are behind the wheel to check up on them are distracting them.
GPS Teen Tracking
GPS tracking is often used to monitor teen drivers, and has been used for many years. In fact, with today’s times, modern changes have been made to this technology to improve the features. For instance, you can rely on GPS to check on your teen’s location, speed, braking, accelerating and more. Parents even have the ability to obtain a daily driving report emailed to them and receive alerts when the device becomes unplugged. The idea behind this technology is to promote safe teen driving since they know their parents are monitoring them.
Nothing can substitute from getting more driving experience which comes with age, however, by applying some of the suggestions above, you can improve the odds of your teen being a far better and safer driver.
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