Safe Driving Plan for Teenagers by Timothy Smith
June 6, 2008 – 10:31 pmMany parents today are apprehensive about handing over the car keys to their teenager, and rightfully so. Car crashes kill more teenagers every year in this country than guns, drugs, alcohol, suicide and violence combined.
Parents underrate their responsibility in assuring the driving safety of their children while fearing the worst. Most look to the driver education programs to teach their teens the rules of the road and how to handle an automobile.
The reality is that in every state of the U.S., driver’s ed programs only provide 1 to 6 hours of ‘behind-the-wheel’ time. That’s hardly enough time to memorize, much less understand the laws and pass the driving exam. In order to competently handle a car in the most common of traffic situations, they should have at least 30 to 50 hours driving time. Only with this extra time, time with a parent or mentor, will they develop the actual skills required for the constant dangers of the real road.
Parents have the ultimate responsibility to ensure their teens are properly educate with the skills and behaviors required to be safe and smart drivers. Timothy Smith, author of Crash Proof Your Kids, Make Your Teen a Safer, Smarter Driver believes “Either underestimating their role and lacking effective methods parents are failing to equip their teenagers with the skills to handle the single most dangerous thing they will ever do in their life and at their most risky age.”
After a rash of fatal car crashes in his neighborhood, all of which involved mistakes by teen drivers, Smith, a father of three teenagers, realized it was time to get involved in helping his own teenagers develop safe driving skills. When he tried to find information on the subject of safe driving, he found there was very little useful information available to teens and parents to take them well beyond basic driver’s ed.
Smith, an award-winning author and trained race car driver decided to do further research and created a step by step plan designed to Radically reduce teen automobile crashes. Following the Crashproof Plan he developed will give your teenager the skills needed to be successful drivers and survive in all adverse driving situations.
Here are just a few ways you can save your kid’s life:
Take time with your teenager to sit down and sign a ‘Crashproof Contract’ that outlines the boundaries, establishing penalties and incentives for driving decisions and use of the car. Discuss all the issues and risks involved: speeding, road rage, drinking, drugs, distractions, cell phones, passengers, curfews, etc. The goal is to have your teen understand the learning process and the issues involved.
Get your teen’s participation in this process and agreement, to create a plan for your teen to safely assume the responsibility for use of a car. Help them understand this is about helping them deal with the single most dangerous thing they will probably ever do.
It is important to always remain a positive role model. Your children learn from you, they will emulate the driving habits you have showed them long before it was even time for them to starting thinking about learning. You cannot expect your teenagers to get into the car, use their seat belts, and practice safe driving practices if they don’t see you doing the same thing.
Drive within the speed limit, use your turn signals, be a courteous driver and never use a cell phone while driving. Remember, your children are watching you, learning from your behavior and imitating you.
Communicating with your children is key to them becoming safer and smarter drivers. Don’t criticize your teen, but emphasize on the measures needed for safe driving. Always remain calm while your teen is driving, and focus on constructive methods to focus on their driving more efficiently. You do not want your teens to stop listening, so make your time together and your lessons positive, with specific goals for each driving lesson.
Take it step by step, using simple exercises that reinforce safe driving habits. Go over braking in emergency situations, drive in all types of inclement weather, drive in the dark, in the city and on the highway. Get them behind the wheel in every type of driving condition and help them with the specific challenges each different driving situation presents.
Follow these proactive strategies and help your teenagers (and you) become safer, smarter drivers. The Crashproof Plan will prepare them to face any kind of driving situation that they may encounter when driving a car. You will sleep better at night knowing that you did your part in giving your children the skills they need to return home safely every time they take a drive.
Tags: Cars
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