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Safety First
Trends in Teen Driving By Kelly Burgess
Looking again at the statistics from IIHS/HLDI, one stands out: Teens wear their seatbelts. Unfortunately, they tend to have more crashes involving higher speeds, which result in more injuries and deaths. They also tend to be more distracted by music, friends and cell phones and have less experience behind the wheel. As a result, teens aren't as good at making quick decisions or evaluating risky situations, such as the one Nimmich's sister found herself in. While every state does have various requirements for hours a teen must spend as a supervised driver, few states have the ability to make sure teens actually fulfill that requirement.
One way to verify that the teen does have X amount of time behind the wheel is to require professional driver's education courses, and some states do have that requirement. The problem is not only that the courses can be costly, but there's no guarantee that the instructor is competent. Backstrom tells a hair-raising story of a young woman who signed up for driver's education and her first time in the car, the instructor – rather than starting with the basics – had her drive on one of the busiest, most dangerous expressways in her city.
While there's probably no perfect legislation, experts agree that the best approach is for the parent to spend as much time as possible in the car with their young driver-to-be before he or she gets a license. Educate yourself and your child about teen driving staistics and some of the ways to minimize the chances of an accident. Remind them frequently, so that it's drilled into their heads, just as wearing a seatbelt has become an ingrained behavior.
After that, put restrictions on driving, such as times when the teen can drive, locations and distances, until they have a significant number of solo driving hours under their belt. Parents can find tips on how to maximize their teaching time with their child by visiting S2W's Web site or Edmunds.com
