Sue Scheff; Teaching Your Teen to Drive Safely

Source: Safe Teen Driving Club

OK. You've probably been driving for 25+ years. You can do a great job tutoring your child as she learns to get the feel of the car...how to navigate through traffic, etc. But many parents aren't up to date on the Graduated Driver Licensing laws that affect both teens and parents. Further, the risk factors that lead to crashes are manageable -- if you know what they are, and how to avoid them. These articles will help you get a head start in teaching your teenager how to drive.

Learning to Drive: A Guide for Parents
Unsafe Driving Behaviors to Watch for with Your Teen
Cell Phones - A Leading Cause of Driver Distraction
Street Wise On-Line Driving Game from Daimler Chysler
Is Your Teen Ready to Drive?

Further, there are six major challenges new drivers must face. Not only do they need to understand what they are...they need to practice each one. Perhaps the only advanced collision avoidance program that addresses each of these is the teenSMART training program. It's a complete package of DVD, CD's and workbooks that parents and teens study together -- including spending substantial hours behind the wheel to put theory into practice. It can save up to $1000 in insurance premiums with select insurance carriers over the teen's driving history. But more important, it can reduce the likelihood of a crash by 30 to 70 percent! You can find more about teenSMART® here.

Sue Scheff - Parenting Blogs

O-kay, I am in Florida and have a soft spot for oranges and tangerines, but when I discovered a new Parenting Website that promotes today’s teen issues and parents concerns, I had to share it with you. Tangerine Times, created by Myrna Lantzsch, offers a variety of Parenting Tips, Articles, Blogs and more. Her motto: The Sweet and Sour Life with Teens.

Recently Myrna wrote about Teens and Texting while Driving - and this is huge concern for many of us. We are hearing more and more how car accidents due to cell phone use are increasing, and we need to educate our teens of the dangers of using their phones while driving.

Here is her follow up article:

In an effort to provide additional information and updates on the subject of “Texting While Driving” post - I discovered this story on Salon.com.

In the article, they discuss other technologies to aide with the “disabling” of a cell phone for texting purposes. Both of the companies discussed, (WQN, Inc. and Aegis Mobility) both utilize the car’s Global Positioning System to disable the cell phone.

I still think the best approach is to turn off texting at certain times (especially when the teenager is just beginning to drive) and/or have them leave the phone at home. I know this is unheard of anymore, no one thinks they can do without a cell phone around. But, I’m beginning to think that the temptation to text or use the phone can be very tempting. And, it is even more of a distraction than loud music or maybe, even, another teen in the car.

I’m still researching this subject and will continue to supply updates. As usual, I am particularly interested in hearing from you readers…what do you think? What have you tried?

Sue Scheff: Teenage Driving Statistics

By ParentingMyTeen.com

When your teen starts to drive it is a good idea to be well aware of the teen driving statistics that are out there. A lot of the teen driving statistics may prove to be rather shocking.As a parent, if you search for any information about Teen Driving Statistics you will find statistics similar to those below. I have reviewed various websites to summarize the information from these sources, however, please feel free to search the web for “teen driving statistics” for more websites and information on this subject.
The information allows us to ponder if teen driving needs to be revisited on a national level. How are teen drivers being educated by driving schools? Do we need to increase the amount of time for driver training? How about requiring higher levels of car driving education (not just traffic education, but how do drive a car education)? Should driver’s licenses only be issued at age 18? What are the economic implications to increasing the driving age? We will visit these questions in the next article. For now we need to understand what is happening on our roads today.

We know that the current requirements for driver education are not sufficient. Both commercially and by parents. We can add that a younger age teen is not mature enough to control a vehicle and might as well be considered to be driving a deadly weapon. Teens with permit licenses are driving with their parents in an unmarked family vehicle only increase the likelihood of accidents. Using car magnets that are thick, reflective for the night and are durable can help reduce this likelihood. Identifying these almost 2 million vehicles on the road should be a requirement on a national level.

As parents we must take the responsibility of protecting our children. Should you reconsider your decision the next time your teen asks to take the car?

The Facts from reliable Sources

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

In 2003, 3,657 (3,827 in 2002) drivers 15 to 20 years old were killed, and an additional 308,000 (324,000 in 2002) were injured, in motor vehicle crashes. Nearly 31 percent of teen drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2003 had been drinking and 74 percent of this group was not wearing their safety belts.

National Safety Council

In 2000, 6,495 people between the ages of 15 and 20 were killed in motor vehicle crashes-the leading cause of death for this age group. And although young drivers represent only 6.6% of the nation’s licensed drivers, they are involved in 14.8% of fatal crashes. The National Safety Council urges all parents to familiarize themselves with the risks associated with young, inexperienced drivers.

Traffic crashes are the number one cause of death among children and young adults.

More than 3,800 young drivers age 15-20 are killed every year in traffic crashes.

More than 326,000 young drivers are injured.

Young drivers are involved in fatal traffic crashes at over twice the rate as the rest of the population.

Exceeding the posted speed limit or driving at an unsafe speed is the most common error in fatal accidents.

About 30% of crashes killing young drivers involve alcohol.

More than 1,000 young drivers lose their lives every year in crashes because of an impaired driver… be it themselves, or someone else.

Sean Mullsteff Teen Driving Foundation

The number one cause of death for 15-20 year olds is car collisions.

This age group makes up 7% of licensed drivers, but suffers 14% of fatalities and 20% of all reported collisions.

53% of teen driver deaths occur on weekends.

Teen drivers killed in motor vehicle collisions had a youth passenger in the automobile 45% of the time.

In 2002, The National Center for Statistics and Analysis reported that 8,278 adolescents (ages 15-20) were involved in fatal crashes.

324,000 teens were injured in collisions in 2002.

65% of teen passenger deaths occur with a teen driving.

Teen lifestyle of staying up late make teen drivers a high risk to have an automobile collision due to drowsiness.

More than any age group, teens are likely to be involved in a single vehicle crash.
Melih Oztalay, CEO
Auto Safety Magnets
The Driving Book -

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