One of the scariest things about being a parent is that the more independent our children become, the less control we have. As parents, we just want to protect our kids from the world around them. Once they hit their teens, real world choices have real life impacts. And as that 16th birthday draws nearer and nearer, it suddenly becomes a case of your child inside a metal box versus the world.
Our world is filled with distractions. So in this age of instant gratification, text messaging, and smartphones, what can we do as parents to help our children stay focused on the road and stay safe?
Car accidents are the leading cause of death for teens; and most of these deaths are preventable. Here are some helpful tips to assist your teenage driver as they learn to navigate the roads.
7 Tips to Help Your Teen Avoid Distractions While Driving:
- Model Good Behavior. The most responsible thing parents can do when driving or teaching their teens to drive, is to model appropriate behavior. We need to demonstrate what safe, focused driving looks like.
- Try a Tech Solution. There are many technologies and apps that help increase awareness on the road & promote safer driving. For example, Hum by Verizon Wireless lets you set speed and boundary alerts.
- Avoid Anything that Prevents you from Keeping Your Eyes on the Road. This includes channel surfing, texting, eating and drinking. Remind your teen to not just stay focused on their driving, but also on the other drivers around them. Your teen is responsible for not just themselves, but for their passengers and the lives of the other people they are sharing the road with.
- Know Where you are Going Before you Leave the House. If using a navigation system or smartphone, it is imperative to pre-program the destination so that the voice directions are started before driving. This way your teen can remain hands-free and stay focused on the road.
- Give Yourself Extra Time to get There. Check traffic beforehand to know the best routes to take and to get a more accurate idea of timing so your teen can avoid the stress associated with rushing or being late.
- Always Pull-Over if Something Requires your Attention. Instead of using the phone while driving, or having to adjust fallen items, secure pets or passengers, if your teen’s attention cannot be only on the road, it is necessary to pull-over. Then they can take care of pressing business and proceed when they are ready and focused again.
- Pledge to Stop Distracted Driving. By modeling proper driving tactics and constantly educating the public about safe driving, we are pledging to do our part to make the roads a safer place. Encourage all drivers you know to take the pledge to avoid driving distracted and to #ArriveAliveTX.
For parents and their teen drivers there are many online resources available with tips on how to promote safe driving, including Verizon’s Technology & Teen Driving resource, National Safety Council, Million Mile Secrets’ Roadside Assistance Tips, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
We at Patterson Law Group take distracted driving seriously because we see its devastating impacts on a daily basis. Please join us in making the roads a safer place.
Serving All of Texas. Call 817.784.2000
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