If you’re a parent with a teen, you know all too well the feeling of worry that comes along with a driving teen. Perhaps the hardest part is the lack of control that you have. You have so much life experience and wisdom to share in order to keep them safe, but they don’t seem to listen very well as long as their heads are in the clouds of their newfound freedom. Taking a few steps to keep them safe will go a long way to free your mind of worry and prevent accidents in the future. Here are some teen driving safety tips.
Ride with Them Often
The best way to learn your teen’s driving habits in order to learn what he or she needs to work on is to simply ride with them often. You can ask questions about their driving experience all day long, but you’ll find that if they muster up a decent answer, it’s usually going to be the one you love to hear. So, though you’re used to driving everywhere, make it a point to get in the passenger seat every chance you get. This will give your teen extra monitored driving experience, and, as you learn to stay quiet and let him drive with his parent-guard down, you’ll learn how he takes to the road.
Keep a Driving Journal or GPS in the Car
When you’re not there, it’s recommended that you keep a driving log or journal in the car for your teen to document mileage and places visited in the car. This will hold your teen accountable to any rules that you follow and keep them from going places that they simply shouldn’t go. If you’d like to take it a step further, you can purchase GPS trackers that will tell you exactly where your teen’s car is, as well as how fast it was going to get there. Teens might call this a breech in privacy, but parents call this accountability and peace of mind.
Set a Curfew
Some states require a curfew for new drivers, but for those that don’t, it’s really a good rule to keep your teen safe from trouble, or sleepy or drunk drivers. Feel free to bump back the curfew as your teen earns it.
Set a Friend Limit
Simply prohibit your teen driving with a car full of friends. Perhaps, you may even start smaller, saying your teen can only drive siblings, parents or themselves. Gradually, allow one friend, and then two, as you see fit.
Implementing these boundaries and rules will do great things to hold your teen accountable, keep them safe while driving and soothe your worried mind.
Do you have any teen driving safety tips?
