How Do We Control The Teenage Driving Problem
June 8, 2009 by Marc Marseille
Filed under Auto Insurance
Teenage driving is a serious issue of parents worldwide due to regular occurrences of teen crashes and mishaps on the road. The important thing is to understand the reasons for such occurrences and reduce the risk taking habit of the teen drivers. The other areas to improve are to reduce the exposure to any sort of risk and teach the required driving skills to these teenagers.
The change in law to increase the driving age from 16 to 18 years is not the solution to this problem. This will only impact the Automobile industry and its related service sectors. It will be a big blow to manufacturers, driving instructors, gas companies, and insurance agents. There will be a sharp drop in revenues for the manufacturers as well as the insurance agents due to the change of law.
The lack of maturity and skills in the teenager along with the risk taking behavior has been the main reason for such accidents. The teens also show lack of discipline while following safety rules. Thus it becomes necessary to train teenagers about all the road and safety rules and make them used to adhering to these rules. The keys to the car should only be given by the parent when the child avoids risk taking behavior and obtains the required driving skills.
Drunken driving, not wearing seat belts, distractions on the road, and late night driving have been the reasons for teen mishaps on the road. Most of the teen fatalities tend to occur between 6 PM to 6AM mainly on Fridays and weekends.
The teens also don’t follow the rules such as driving with parent or qualified trainer for first three months after obtaining their driving license, avoiding driving at midnight except for some situations, wearing seat belts, and avoiding usage of cell phones. The failure to follow the safety rules has been another reason for teen fatalities.
It is important for the parent to join their child’s driving classes. They should also monitor their child’s progress and help them gain the necessary knowledge as being taught in the class. The parents should make their child aware of defensive driving techniques. Another crucial thing for the parent is to share knowledge with their child regarding all their driving experiences. This will help the teenager be prepared to handle any extreme situation.
The teenagers risk taking behavior also needs to be modified. Due to hormonal influence and certain growth related patterns the teenagers tend to take certain unwanted risks. It is necessary for the parent to analyze this risk and make the teen aware of the consequence of this action. Once the teenager is aware of the problems that might occur they will show tendencies to avoid risk taking behavior.
It is important for teenagers to join the best driver education program. The onus lies on the parents to make their children join an authorized and certified driver education program which can help them develop their driving skills. The quality of the program and instructors approach is important for helping the teenager grasp the required driving knowledge. It is important to monitor the progress of the teenager on a daily basis. It is important to explain to the teenager that the driver program is just the beginning of their learning curve to become an expert driver.
