1Inexperience
Like most other pursuits, you need experience. Have your teen practice parking and driving in suburban areas and take short rides on freeways with you as a passenger. You should consider having your child take a driving course with a certified instructor if he/she has not already done so.
2Distracted driving
Emphatically warn your teen about the dangers of texting and driving and that it is illegal. Use yourself as a role model and refrain from doing it while driving. The phone should be in the pocket or glove compartment and ignored during every car trip.
3Not wearing seatbelts
Seatbelts save lives and prevent serious and disabling injuries. In nearly 80% of fatal teenage car accidents, the teen driver or passengers were not restrained.
4Drinking and driving
This should be obvious, but drunk driving is still a menace and a major cause of teenage fatal car accidents. If caught with any percentage of alcohol in their system, your teen driver loses his/her license for at least one year. Advise your teen never to get in a car with a driver who has been drinking let alone themselves as a drunk driver. Tell them to call you or an Uber to pick them up and that they will not suffer repercussions other than a stern warning about drinking or doing drugs.
5Night driving
Teens should not be driving after a certain time anyway and certainly not past 9:00 pm or 10:00 pm. Most accidents occur at night because of poor visibility and the higher incidence of drinking.
6Speeding and reckless driving
Driving within the speed limit and within safe limits considering the traffic and weather is safe and a cool thing to do. Drive with your teen and point out the speeders and reckless drivers on any freeway to see how they endanger other motorists. Speeding greatly reduces reaction time to any perceived hazard on the road.
7Teen passengers
Having teens as passengers increases the risk of reckless driving due to peer pressure.
8Fatigue
Teens need more sleep Be sure they are well-rested before driving.
