One of the most dangerous places for teenagers is behind the wheel or in the passenger seat with a peer driving. Parental involvement is best way to mitigate driving dangers while ensuring that teens learn this essential life skill.
Tonia Gusbar is a mother and a driving instructor from Ohio. Not only has she taught countless teens how to be safe in the driver's seat, now she has first hand experience as a parent teaching her teenage daughter to drive. This mother explained her tactic to The Record Courier. She said the trick is to get in plenty of practice hours and make it fun.
Every Saturday morning, Gusbar and her daughter would get up early and hit the road for a couple of hours. There are fewer cars at that time of day so it wasn't as stressful. The pair drove in different settings so the teen could acquire a range of driving experience.
After practice time, the two would go out for breakfast. Now, Gusbar says, the pandemic means that many teens are missing out on formal driving classes, so it's even more important that their parents step up.
The CDC has a program for teen drivers' parents called Parents are the Key. The government agency says this is vital because car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens between the ages of 16 and 19 in the United States. The CDC estimates that fatal crashes involve around 6 teens each day.
Parents mostly need to be aware of the eight danger zones and how to mitigate them. The first is driver inexperience. Mothers and fathers should make sure that their children get in between 30 and 50 hours of supervised driving practice in six months. That comes out to about two hours a week. Practice makes perfect!
Next, teens have a higher rate of accidents when they drive with teen passengers. That means that parents should limit the number of friends that get in the car to one or none for the first six months that their teen has a license.
Other danger zones highlighted on the CDC page include nighttime driving, not wearing a seatbelt, reckless driving, driving under the influence, distracted driving, and drowsy driving.
Parents need to talk to their teens about these dangers and make sure that they understand the risks. To help, the CDC even provides a "Parent-Teen Driving Agreement." Using this template, parents will make sure that they cover all of the most important points.