Tony Robbins once said, “Repetition is the mother of skill,” and that certainly is true of equipping a teen to become a safe and confident driver. Not only should skills be taught by a licensed instructor, but they must be practiced with parents repeatedly and frequently to ensure success.
The DMV and CDC strongly encourage parents to identify risky behaviors and use or create a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement to impart the seriousness of this responsibility and their safety. We suggest: https://www.cdc.gov/parentsarethekey/pdf/PATK_2014_TeenParent_Agreement_AAP-a.pdf or https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/parent-teen-driving-contract-pdf/
Driving is potentially dangerous for everyone, but exponentially more so for young drivers.
Teen drivers are involved in more collisions than any other group due to a number of reasons, including:
- Lack of Maturity: Teens simply make more judgment errors than any other age group, especially when not supervised by an adult.
- Distractions: An inexperienced driver is even more challenged by driving distractions: cell phones, pets, and passengers are best left behind when your teen is driving.
- Driving Inexperience: It takes a lot of practice to safely navigate everyday road conditions, not to mention more extreme hazards. Teens show the most improvement within the first year and 1,000 miles of driving, and this can be accelerated by participating in an Advanced Training Course focused on collision avoidance.
- High-Risk Conditions: It is important to talk to teens about avoiding high-risk driving situations so we can best equip them to make wise choices before the situation comes up:
- Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs: drinking any amount of alcohol can impair a person’s judgment, and is illegal for minors.
- High speeds: Teens involved in severe collisions are usually traveling at high speeds.
- Passengers: As the number of passengers increases, the risk of collision increases. For the first 12 months after obtaining a provisional license, a teenager is not allowed to have passengers under the age of 20 in the car unless they are accompanied by a licensed driver 25 years or older.
- Driving at night: The highest collision risk for teens occurs on weekend nights. Before they drive at night, a teen should practice with a parent extensively, and in all road and weather conditions.
- Visual Obstruction: Teens need extra practice navigating curves in the road, parked cars, hill crests, inclement weather, and anything else that may limit their ability to gather information and make a safe decision.
- Seat belt non-usage: A sudden stop at 30 miles per hour is like falling from a 3-story building. Seat belts reduce the chance of being thrown from a vehicle in a collision.
Identifying these risks with your teen, setting clear expectations, and executing a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement has proven to increase safe, responsible driving and reduce the likelihood of a teen-involved collision.
Teen Road to Safety – Temecula is proud to offer complete concierge service from online Driver’s Education, to one-on-one behind-the-wheel instruction packages of 6 to 20 hours with expert law enforcement officers as instructors, to Advanced Training hosted once a month in South Orange County. Behind the wheel teen safety is our passion and purpose, and we will gladly hold your hand every step of the way.
For more information and pricing:
Visit: www.teenroadtosafety.com or https://www.facebook.com/trtstemecula
Email: temecula@teenroadtosafety.com
Call: 855-81-DRIVE
Voice or text: 951-516-1452
