Guest Editorial
Understanding parents' roles with teen drivers and their safety
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Whenever
we get behind the wheel of a car we begin the process
of risk assessment. This is why we look behind before backing up, or look both
ways before entering the roadway. We are determining issues of risk before we
take action.
Often, we are also trying
to determine how much risk can we get away with. If
the speed limit is 50, we may be thinking about going 55, or 60, or more. We
think about our choices and the likely consequences of each choice. We say to
ourselves, "I think I can get away with this much" and then see if we
are right.
At age 46, I am 28 years
older than my son. I have 30 years of independent
driving experience. I have driven in all seasons and in all
driving conditions and on all kinds of roadways. I have witnessed
collisions and their aftermath. My risk assessment is based
on 30 years of driving experience. This makes me very similar to many other
parents of teen drivers. This is totally unlike a new teen driver though.
We speak of lack of
judgment when it comes to teen drivers. Lack of judgment
means that teens do not have the same depth of experience on which to base
their risk assessment. As such they may make a
less than adequate decision.
This lack of experience
and lesser judgment tends not to be recognized by
teens. They cannot see what they never had or are yet to develop. They cannot
appreciate their lack of experience and as such will argue that they are fully
capable of assessing risk as capably as older adults.
Teens have a marvelous
capacity for language. They have just spent the past several years in high
school and elementary school before that. Some convince their parents that they
do know more than their actual experience has taught.
Some parents think that
because they trust their teen or because their teen is
generally good or because the teen is convincing, that their teen will
exercise good judgment in the use of the car. However, parents are cautioned to
remember that their teen's good judgment just doesn't
have the wealth of experience to back it up. No matter how good or well-meaning the teen, they simply are not fully equipped
for the responsibility and management of a motor vehicle under all
circumstance. Teens simply do not possess the judgement
of adults. They can't.
This is
well known to insurance companies. Insurance companies do not consider
young persons experienced until about age 25 because their crash statistics
show that this is the age when crashes start to significantly
decline.
Insurers also know that
the first year of driving remains the most risk filled point in a young
person's life. Teen driver car crashes are the leading cause of permanent
injury and death in teens and the first year of driving is the most dangerous.
Parents must talk with
their teens and set limits and determine
responsibilities, expectations and restrictions on the use of the car to reduce
the risk of their child's involvement in a crash. Parents do know better and it's not until the teen is over age 25 that they will truly
understand or appreciate the actions taken by their parents.
Parents are well advised to restrict the number of passengers
allowed in the vehicle. Additional passengers may be allowed
for each year of driving experience. Parents must insist that their teen
buckle-up and parents must do so too. If your teen intends on being out after
Lastly, don't let the tail wag the dog. Remember, your car, your
rules. Your responsibility as a parent continues to be the safety of your child
until they are truly independent.
Our son has now been
driving 18 months and so far without incident. He must tell us where he is
going and when he is returning each time he uses the
car. He is restricted to only three passengers at this point (zero for the
first month and building from there). He cannot use the car after
When asked, he will tell
us he doesn't like our rules. Happily
for us, he tells us each time after arriving home safely. When he's older, we think he will see the irony in that. Will your teen?
-- Gary Direnfeld,
Executive Director
"I Promise
Program" -- teen safe driving initiative
www.ipromiseprogram.com