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Get Road Ready: A Parent's GuideGet Road Ready: A Parent’s Guide to Safely Ease Teens into Driving Facts Parents and Teens Should Know About Driving
This shocking reality is due mostly to two factors—driver inexperience and maturity level behind the wheel. With so many teens being injured or killed on our nation’s roadways, teen driving safety has become a national priority and a top concern for parents according to a survey commissioned by Chrysler.6 Road Ready Teens offers a simple set of steps for parents to implement in the home to help ease teens into driving. Based on research and principles advocated by the nation’s top safety organizations, the program’s tips and tools help teens gain the necessary driving experience and maturity behind the wheel before tackling high-risk driving situations. Road Ready Teens' recommendations build upon laws that are already on the books in most states, as well as on the skills and principles teens often learn in driver’s education courses. The Road Ready Teens program guides parents on how to incorporate proven, lifesaving strategies into their teens’ beginning driving stages.
The Role of Parents Sure, parents want teens to have their freedom, and teen drivers can be helpful when it comes to family driving responsibilities. But teens first need to become safe drivers, which requires extensive practice and experience. While driver’s education and state licensing laws provide the foundation for learning, it is essential that parents take an active role in teaching teens to drive. Research shows that when parents take an active role in their teens’ driving education and set certain driving guidelines, their teens’ chances of being in a crash can be reduced by up to one-third.7 Reducing teens’ chances of being in a crash helps protect their lives and prevents costly medical bills and increased insurance rates. As a parent, you can: Implement Road Ready Teens in your home Review the recommendations, set the guidelines and personalize the Parent-Teen Road Rules Contract with your teen. Require your teen to play Road Ready StreetWise Version 2.0, a state-of-the-art video game that is challenging, exciting and helps teens better understand the risks they face in their early driving years. Talk with your teen about the privilege of driving and the risks that come with being behind the wheel. Experience will help teens in becoming safer drivers and help them recognize the risks other drivers pose. By knowing and understanding these risks, teens are one step closer to becoming safer drivers. Know the laws The Road Ready Teens program builds on the laws in most states. Make sure you and your teen know your state’s laws for young drivers. Use the map on this site to link to your state’s driver’s licensing Web site. Be a good role model Teens look to their parents for guidance and as role models behind the wheel. Teach your teen to be a safer driver by modeling safe driving. Follow all traffic laws and always buckle up in the front and back. Never drink and drive. Choose the right vehicle for teen drivers* Turn to the experts for advice or more information by visiting www.nhtsa.dot.gov. Know the Risks and Start Early… Teen crashes can be prevented. Studies prove that many teen crashes are caused by distractions such as other teens in the vehicle, talking on cell phones, listening to loud music, or eating and drinking. Alcohol and speeding also are factors in many teen crashes. Another risk is a lack of experience driving at night and in adverse weather, when visibility is reduced and reaction time is slowed. Buckle Up! Data shows that the most effective way to reduce the chance of death or injury in a crash is by using a seat belt. Unfortunately, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use when compared with other age groups.8 Therefore, it’s important that you communicate to your teen that seat belt use by all occupants — front seat and back — is required at every level of driving. Dangers of Impaired Driving Research also shows that during a typical weekend, an average of one teen dies per hour in a motor vehicle crash and 41% of these crashes involve alcohol.9 Make it clear to your teen that drinking alcohol or using drugs and then driving is unacceptable. Teens should never drink and drive or ride with someone who has been drinking. Restrict Teen Passengers Research shows that teen drivers, ages 16 and 17, driving with even one teen passenger are 50% more likely to be involved in a crash than when driving alone. With two teen passengers in the vehicle, the risk more than doubles. With three or more teen passengers, it’s nearly four times more likely that teens will be involved in a crash than if they were driving alone.10 That’s why you should limit the number of passengers with whom your teens drive. Start early Set driving ground rules in the beginning to help your teen learn to drive and gain experience. In the early stages of driving, work with your teen to determine limits that everyone can live with. Slowly introduce him/her to high-risk driving situations such as bad weather, nighttime driving, heavy traffic and highway driving. The following guidelines are recommended by safety experts and have been proven to not only lessen the risks among teen drivers, but also to help them learn to drive more safely. Some states have some or all of these guidelines in place referred to as Graduated Driver Licensing. Other states have no system that allows new drivers to learn within a more controlled and safer structure. Even if your state’s laws do not incorporate all of these guidelines, as a parent, you can set “house rules” that offer more protection than your state’s laws. The guidelines include three stages: the Learner’s Permit level, the Intermediate Driver level, and the Full Driver level. Learner’s Permit Level In the Learner’s Permit level, it is recommended that you:
Intermediate Driver Level In the Intermediate Driver level, it is recommended that you:
Remember, you can require that your teen repeat a level if a rule is ever broken. Full Driver Level After successfully completing the first two levels, your teen graduates to the Full Driver level. At the Full Driver level, teens have complete driving privileges as provided by the law. However, all drivers at this level should follow the sound principles learned in the Learner’s Permit and Intermediate Driver levels:
At this level, you should feel comfortable knowing that your teen is mature and experienced enough to drive safely. However, if you still feel uncomfortable with some aspects of your teen’s driving, consider continuing some of the guidelines outlined in the Intermediate Driver level. You hold the keys! Parents can and should set the rules. If at any time your teen driver violates the driving rules agreed upon or receives a traffic citation, you should consider waiting before moving him/her to the next level. In addition, consider one of the following consequences:
Also, do not be afraid to say no if you think your teen has not had enough driving experience or is not mature enough to move to the next driving level. Your main priority is teaching safe driving habits to help ensure that your teen will be as careful and protected as possible. For more information on the research behind teen driving risks and the guidelines proposed in this guide, please refer to the National Safety Council's Family Guide to Teen Driving Safety, available online at www.nsc.org. Create a Parent-Teen Road Rules Contract Create your own Parent-Teen Road Rules Contract based on the recommendations in this guide, which are proven to keep young drivers safe. (These recommendations are listed in the previous section.) We know parents need flexibility when they teach their teens to drive. However, be aware that if you relax the restrictions, the risk to your teen will increase. Click here for a PDF version of the Road Ready Teens Parent's Guide. Post the contract on the refrigerator or bulletin board. Put a copy in the car. Refer back to it. Then there’s never any question about the terms of the contract. Road Ready Teens was created by Chrysler with help from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the National Safety Council (NSC) and AAA and is based on the principles of Graduated Driver Licensing. Chrysler would like to thank the following safety organizations that for their guidance and expertise in the development of this Parent's Guide: MADD, the NSC, AAA, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For more information on the research behind teen driving risks and the guidelines proposed in this guide, please refer to the National Safety Council’s Family Guide to Teen Driving Safety, available online at www.nsc.org. Check out the other sections of this Web site for links to your state’s driving laws, research and statistics, and information on safer driving. Visit the Other Resources section of this site for links to other sites of interest. Visit the following Web sites for additional information on driving safety and teen driving:
Sources: 1 Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2002 2 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2005 5 Williams, A.F.; McCartt, A.T.; and Geary, L.2003. Seatbelt use by high school students. Injury Prevention 9:25-28. 6 Public Opinion Strategies for DaimlerChrysler, (February 2003). 7 Simpson, H.M. The Evolution and Effectiveness of Graduated Licensing. 17. 10 Williams, A.F.; 2003. Teenage Drivers: Patterns of Risk, Journal of Safety Research 34:5-15. 11 Williams, A.F.; Preusser, D.F.; Ferguson, S.A.; and Ulmer, R.G. 1997. Analysis of the fatal crash involvement of 15-year-old drivers. Journal of Safety Research 28:49-54 12 Williams, A.F.; 2003. Teenage Drivers: Patterns of Risk, Journal of Safety Research 34:5-15. *The links available from this site are provided for convenience only. None of Chrysler LLC or its affiliated companies guarantees the accuracy of any of the sites to which this site may link. The user should confirm the accuracy of the contents of any site, himself. |
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