Helping Teenage
Drivers
There
are several things that parents can do to help keep their teenagers safe
behind the wheel. We'd like to highlight a few of them.
-
Coach your Son or Daughter. You should "coach" your teenage
driver. Talk openly and frankly with him or her in order to
determine his or her attitude about being behind the wheel.
Work with your teen to set ground rules, such as the number
of people allowed in the car, where the car may be taken,
and curfew.
-
Utilize Emergency Road Service. If you do not belong to a
motor club, you should consider joining one that provides
24-hour emergency road service. That way, your teenager may
call for help at any time if they need gas, need a
jump-start, are locked out, or need a tire changed. You can
also arrange with the motor club to provide service for your
teen if they are in a friend's car.
-
Have an Open Discussion about Driving under the Influence.
While no one wants to think about the possibility of their
teenager drinking and driving--or being in a car with an
impaired friend at the wheel--we need to be realistic.
History has shown that teenagers will experiment with
alcohol. You should make it clear to your teen that driving
after drinking is not acceptable. However, if they ever do
drink, or are in a car with someone else who is impaired,
make it clear to your teen that he or she can call you at
any time of the day or night and that you will come to get
them--no questions asked.
Two
other effective, though more costly, things that can be done
are:
-
Install a "Governor." Many vehicles--school buses and
certain types of delivery vehicles are good examples--have a
"governor" installed in them that restricts the amount of
fuel that can be injected, thus preventing the vehicle from
being driven over a certain speed. A governor in your teen's
car may help keep him or her within the speed limits.
-
Install a Global Positioning System (GPS) in your car. You
can program it to let you know where your teenager is
driving at any time. With the GPS, you can set a radius of
operation and the GPS will notify you if your teen has taken
the car outside of that radius. It can even alert you when
the speed limit is being exceeded. Finally, a GPS can notify
you if the car is being kept out past an agreed upon curfew.
We realize that this may seem like a rather extreme measure.
Use of a GPS may best serve those parents who have a reason
to mistrust their teenager.
Schedule an Appointment with The
Hoffman Group - When
your son or daughter gets a driver's license, come into our
office so we can review such options with both of you. It is
important for you--and your son or daughter--to remember
that, yes, your auto insurance rates will go up, but they
will come down after a couple years of driving experience.
However, the rates will really go up if your teenager has
tickets or gets into accidents.
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