Numerous distracted driving accidents occur among new motorists. It would be best if you taught your child safety lessons before giving them the keys. Teen drivers are involved in almost 60 percent of crashes caused by distracted driving. Every new driver is aware that the risk is high, but parents can help their children accomplish this by teaching them to follow certain habits whenever they are behind the wheel.
Safe driving can be achieved by following these four strategies:
Model good driving behavior
It would be best if you started teaching your child how to drive safely when you turn their car seat from rear-facing to front-facing. Kids can be little sponges of observant behavior; even the youngest minds can grasp the nuances of safe driving behavior.
Distracted driving lectures won’t replace watch parents eat, text, check emails, or act aggressively as they drive. When your child is driving, set an example of how you want them to behave.
Make sure your children know you are a safe driver by holding you accountable. By allowing them to do tasks for you, you will be able to concentrate solely on driving.
Remove all distractions – not just phones.
About 15% of distracted driving accidents involving teens are caused by the driver talking to other passengers in the car. Distractions are any actions that take a driver’s eye, hand, or focus off the road.
Consuming food or alcohol, looking in the vehicle for something, and using a musical device can result in dangerous behaviors. It may not seem so, but interacting with others in a car can be very distracting, even for teens who think they aren’t distracted.
Furthermore, it would be best if you taught your children to be safe passengers. Don’t engage them in distracting conversation or activities while the driver is driving. Besides adjusting the temperature, they can answer calls or text the driver.
Drive smart tip sheets are a resource you can distribute to your family and friends of your children so that everybody can be safer whether they drive your children or not. As part of the distracted driving toolkit, drive smart offers a free bag that lets the teen hide the phone while they drive(request it using the smart drive homepage).
Know and follow the laws and regulations of driving
Graduated licenses are available all over the world. As a teenager progresses through the process, their driving privileges gradually increase.
Teenagers were protected with these restrictions while they were learning to drive. Children should not be allowed to tell you that others don’t follow these rules. If your child is driving without an adult, a level 2 license required the following:
- After 10 pm, it is not permitted to operate the vehicle. The ban does not apply to activities(like school extracurricular or driving to/from work) between midnight and 5 am.
- The vehicle may not carry more than one young passenger under 21, except for immediate family members.
- Texting and calling is prohibited(no mobile phones)
Communicate early and often
Make sure your teen is taught safe driving practices beyond the driver education course. Outline your expectations and what happens if you don’t follow the rules.
The smart drive program developed a Parent-Teen driving agreement to ignite a conversation about distracted driving.
Getting a teen driver’s agreement is a great way to have a real conversation. However, you should do more than just sign: talk to your teen through the agreement and customize it to their needs.
Teens need to learn the driving ethics and safe driving lessons more often from a continuous guide. The parents play a major role in the upbringing of their children in a safe and better way while allowing them to wander about the world.
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