Tag: distracted driving

Teenage Drivers: Driving Safety Tips

I’m sure you can all remember the day that your teenage children were born. It goes by so fast and seems like just yesterday. You’ve taught them to read and write, and you’ve seen them grow up. Now, its time to teach them to be responsible drivers. Having your teenage driver take a driving safety course is a great way to teach them good driving habits. Today’s society is saturated with technology that is presenting teen drivers with all kinds of distractions.

Here are some tips for teaching your teen to drive safely:

1. Selfies- Driving and taking a selfie is NEVER a good idea. Even if you’re stopped at a red light or stop sign, taking a selfie can dangerously distract you from what’s going on. According to a CNN article written in late 2013, driving and selfie’ing is scarily popular. At the time, there were close to 4,000 posts on Instagram under the hashtag “drivingselfie”. Today, there are almost 30,000. Clearly, this is a dangerous trend that is on the rise.
2. Set a good example- Its so hard, even as adults, to avoid looking at our phones and checking emails, calendars, and texts. Studies have shown that new drivers have significantly fewer accidents when there is a responsible adult in the car. Because you can’t be with your teen driver all the time, you can do your best to ensure safe driving habits by setting good habits yourself.
3. Eating- Unfortunately, we all have busy schedules and nearly everyone ends up eating in their car at some point. Similar to texting while driving or taking a selfie while driving, eating while driving is distracting. Eating while driving can increase your teen’s chance of having an accident by up to 80%.
4. Driving costs- Discussing the monetary costs involved with having a car and driving with your teen can help them take it more seriously. Talking about car insurance, car payments, and gas- and perhaps even sharing the cost with your teen driver- may be a much needed reality check.