You can’t completely protect your teen driver or can you? Well, with Ford developing a system to curtail reckless teen driving and other technological advances sure to follow from competing manufacturers, parental control over the family car may soon be a normal part of every car sold in America within the next few years. After all, if you can control what your teens watch on cable, then you should be able to do likewise with the family car. Or so the thinking goes.
Advanced Safety Features
Parents can’t wait for the new technology to hit and few cars driven by teens will actually have advanced safety features included as it’ll take a number of years before moms and dads everywhere trade their cars in for a new ride. So what parents need to do in the meantime is fall back on an ages old practice: nagging.
Safe Driving Tips
Seriously, we know that nagging doesn’t work but careful instruction certainly can. If your teen understands that driving is a privilege and not a right and that you remember to use your leverage to take away the keys from them if they abuse these same privileges, then you’ll do fine. Just in case, insurance giant GEICO offers the following tips to help parents remind their kids to drive right:
Parents, practice driving in all types of weather with your teen; while it’s helpful for them to get practical experience in clear weather, they’ll need to learn how to handle the car during rain, sleet, snow, etc.
Enforce a strict seatbelt policy so that it is second-nature to teens when they turn on the car unsupervised.
Teach your new driver how to handle the car in the case of a skid. It’s important for teens to know how to act in case of an emergency.
Set the example for your teen and drive slowly. Teens learn best by example so be cautious when out and about this season and make sure to leave plenty of room between you and other vehicles.
Make sure your teen is prepared for an emergency: have a road-side safety kit in your trunk or car.
Talking & Driving
Of course, having a cell phone handy for life’s emergencies is a wise thing to give to the responsible team. Just tell them not to talk and drive — in some states that practice is illegal and can result in a hefty fine!
Photo: Andrzej Gdula