6 Ways to Keep Your Teen Driver Safe

Growing up, most kids look forward to the day they can begin driving. It’s such an exciting time for teenagers. But for parents it can be nerve-wracking when your teen begins driving. Auto accidents account for the largest amount of accidental deaths in teens, according to carsurance.net. So how can you take an active role in your teenager’s driving to help prevent accidents?

Here are six ways that you can help keep your teen driver safe.

• Drive with them as much as possible while they have their permit and when they first get their license.
• Actively discuss that texting while driving is against the law and extremely dangerous. Give some tips to prevent this habit early.
• Talk to them about all forms of distracted driving and how to prevent them.
• Set a habit of putting on seat belts before the vehicle is motion, both as passengers and once they get behind the wheel themselves.
• Ensure they know and understand all traffic laws.
• Limit night driving and the number of passengers in the car.

These are all great tips, but how can they help avoid an accident?

Driving with your teen as much as possible when they have their permit will help them get in good behavioral habits. Setting these habits could help evade distractions in the future. Especially, if this is when they first get their permit to the time they get their license.

Discuss with them that texting while driving is illegal. This can be difficult for anyone – phones are so hard to put down. It is important, though, to set good habits and fully stress the importance of why the use of phones should not occur behind the wheel, especially being a beginning driver.

Talk to them about all forms of distracted driving, which can come in many forms. It’s important no matter how experienced a driver you are that your eyes remain on the road. In 2019 alone, distracted driving claimed the lives of 3,142 people. Want to learn more about distracted driving? Visit nhtsa.gov for more information.

Make sure they have a habit of putting their seatbelt on before they drive. Wearing a seatbelt saved over 14,955 lives in recent years. Getting into the car and immediately putting your seatbelt on is a great habit to get into. Buckling up can reduce the risk of fatal injury by 45% and reduce the risk of critical injury by 50%. To learn more on seatbelt safety visit nhtsa.gov.

Stay up to date and informed of all traffic laws. There’s sometimes only so much you can comprehend through reading without actually driving. It’s one of those things you have to get out and do before you can understand the ins and outs. It’s important for your teen to know all of the basic traffic laws. When teaching them to drive, make sure they are able to answer questions regarding the basics and other traffic laws.

Limit night driving and the number of passengers. Night driving is more than just paranoia, it truly can be more dangerous than driving during the day. For facts and information on driving at night check out our last blog post “8 Driving Tips for Driving at Night.” In most states depending on the class of license your child has, there is a set curfew in place. In Georgia we have the Joshua Law in place, which states that drivers from ages 16-18 for the first six months can only have family members in the car as they are driving. If you want to know more about Driving Laws for teen drivers in Georgia, visit dds.georgia.gov.

These are just a few quick tips for how to keep your teen driver safe. Spend time with your child when they’re beginning driving, like everything new it can seem a little daunting before they get the hang of it!