Tips for Teenage Drivers

School is out for the summer and teens are taking the road driving to and from friends’ homes, summer jobs, and sporting activities. According to the National Safety Council, car crashes are the #1 cause of teenage fatalities. Teenagers are unexperienced, which leads to a higher risk of accident while driving.

Below are a few tips for parents to help prevent the risk of their teenagers being involved in a motor vehicle accident this summer:

Make it a point to ensure that teens know to buckle up on every trip, and for them to make sure their passengers are buckled, too.
Keep household rules in place, even after school lets out. One third of parents surveyed said they allow risky behaviors during vacations, like driving late at night. Keep a schedule and set some restrictions
Ask teenagers to limit their passenger number. Other teen passengers are one of the biggest distractions for teen drivers, doubling or tripling the risk of a crash.
Practice with teens, even after licensure, to ensure they are retaining good driving habits
Model good behaviors; 95% of parents who drive distracted do so in front of their teens.
Set household cell phone rules; more than half of teens feel pressure from their families to drive distracted

Promote safe driving from an early age, and have a safe summer!