{"id":1889,"date":"2014-09-04T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T04:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hnetalk.com\/Member\/?p=1889"},"modified":"2014-09-04T00:00:40","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T04:00:40","slug":"safety-tips-teen-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/safety-tips-teen-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety Tips: Teen Drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HNE_DrLaurie_728X90\"\"teen<\/a>
\nWelcome back!!!\u00a0 It is back to school week and we have reached my favorite topic!\u00a0 As a parent and a doctor, my biggest fear about\u00a0my children and high school was my older daughter starting\u00a0to drive\u00a0to school.\u00a0 I actually made her start drinking coffee\u00a0in the morning because she was never really awake at 7 am!\u00a0(Okay it was half hot chocolate.) Giving your teenager their first set of car keys can feel like one or both of you just went skydiving without a parachute. As a parent, you\u2019re relinquishing a certain amount of control when your child climbs behind the wheel. And that can be terrifying.<\/p>\n

According to the CDC, car accidents are the number-one cause of death among teens in the U.S., accounting for about half the deaths, all of which are preventable.\u00a0The traffic accident rates for 16- to 19-year old drivers are higher than those for any other age group. Inexperienced drivers lack hazard perception, take more risks, and have not had time to master vehicle handling skills. So when it comes to driving, parental caution is warranted. It\u2019s important to communicate that with the freedom comes the seriousness of the sudden responsibility. Even if you enroll your child in a driver’s education course, there is no substitue for strong parental guidance.<\/p>\n

To help make those conversations a little easier to navigate, here’s a road map of important points:<\/p>\n

Seatbelt<\/strong> \u2013 Teens are more likely to shuffle through their\u00a0iPod in search of a suitable playlist before they think about putting on their seatbelt. Be clear that fastening\u00a0their seatbelt should be the very first thing they do before keys are even in the ignition.\u00a0 The driver is also responsible to make sure everyone else is wearing their seatbelt.<\/p>\n

Texting<\/strong> \u2013 There are enough distractions outside of the vehicle, so explain the importance of paying strict attention to the road at all times. Cell phones, music and passengers can be huge distractions, especially texting<\/em>. Every second a teen takes their eyes of the road could be an opportunity for a terrible accident. I would encourage you to watch the Volkwagen “Eyes on the Road” Texting and Driving Stunt on You tube with your teen as a way of starting a conversation.<\/p>\n

Drinking and driving<\/strong> \u2013 Be clear that no one under the age of 21 should be drinking. But teens will be teens, so emphasize the necessity of always having a designated driver. Make sure they understand they can always call for a ride home. This is an important conversation to have and model more than once.\u00a0 Peer pressure makes teens do crazy things, but I tell\u00a0my teens\u00a0and all their friends that if they are not comfortable that the driver is sober, don’t get into the car. I encouraged my teens to sleep over rather than drive if they are out late and made sure they had cab money. Be a good role model as well – drinking and driving don’t mix well at any age!<\/p>\n

Defensive driving<\/strong> \u2013 New drivers should be hyper-sensitive to all surroundings, since they\u2019re still developing basic skills and habits. Teach teenagers to watch out for other drivers and be aware of their reactions to avoid collisions.\u00a0 Make sure they know about the blind spots.<\/p>\n

Penalties<\/strong> \u2013 Discuss the fines associated with tickets, share a personal experience you had getting a ticket and sitting in traffic court. Let them know they will be responsible for any monetary repercussions or other consequences.<\/p>\n

Roadside emergencies and maintenance<\/strong> \u2013 Go over what to do and whom to call in an emergency. Do they have roadside assistance and insurance information readily available? I gave my daughters AAA cards <\/a>for their 16th birthdays. Make sure they know not to lose that information\u2014it\u2019s best to always keep it in the car. Introduce them to basic car maintenance, too, by taking them along for regular oil changes, tire rotations and inspections. That way, they can start scheduling their own appointments when necessary.<\/p>\n

My daughters will probably roll their eyes if they read this – but\u00a0they have followed the family rules about\u00a0safe driving\u00a0because they know how serious I am about this topic.\u00a0 I wonder how they would do on the weekly quiz? How will you?\u00a0 Take my weekly\u00a0quiz to see how much you have learned!
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Photo credit, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back!!!\u00a0 It is back to school week and we have reached my favorite topic!\u00a0 As a parent and a doctor, my biggest fear about\u00a0my children and high school was my older daughter starting\u00a0to drive\u00a0to school.\u00a0 I actually made her start drinking coffee\u00a0in the morning because she was never really awake at 7 am!\u00a0(Okay it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[132],"class_list":["post-1889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drlaurie","tag-dr-laurie-safety-tips-teen-drivers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/teen-driver-e1409272114923.jpg?fit=300%2C170&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6ZZGa-ut","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}