Teen Driving: Tips for Parents to Promote Responsible Behavior

One of the scariest parts of being a parent is watching your child leave your house for the first time and set out on a journey in their own car. It’s your responsibility to teach them the importance of road safety before they take their first trip. If you do not, they could end up hurting themselves. If your loved one does hurt themselves out on the road, this could change your life forever. This post’s intention is to offer some tips you can use to promote responsible behavior on the road.

Ensuring Your Child Is Legal

It’s not exactly uncommon for young people to set out in cars with their friends uninsured or without licenses. When you are young, driving is exciting. Even if it’s just a spin around the block, however, your child mustn’t ever sit in the driver’s seat of a car unless they are road-legal. You can pick up young drivers car insurance for your young driver for next to nothing. Make sure that you do if they are planning on buying a car or you are going to buy one for them. They also need to hold a full license before you let them drive. Make sure that you physically look at their driver’s license before they take control of a vehicle. You need to look at it so that you can be confident that they are legally allowed to set out on the road on their own.

Road Safety Courses

Road safety courses are a must. They can keep your child safe when he or she is out on the road. A lot of people totally overlook road safety courses, thinking that the classes required in order to obtain a license are enough. Savvy parents enroll their children in classes beyond those, however. Road safety courses can teach your child a lot more than they would’ve learned in their basic license classes with an instructor. They can also teach your child defensive driving. Defensive driving is one of the best tricks a person can learn.

Practicing Safe Driving

You need to make sure that you practice safe driving yourself. If your child grows up watching you drive like a lunatic, they're going to think it is acceptable for them to drive like a lunatic as well. Whenever your child is in the car with you, make sure that you are the most careful and gentle driver on the road. You should also practice defensive driving yourself. As mentioned in the previous section, defensive driving is a great skill to learn. Practicing it in front of your child is a good way to teach them how important it is and get them to adopt it themselves.

Purchasing Stable Vehicle

You are probably going to buy your child their first car. If you are going to buy your child their first car, make sure you buy them a safe and stable one. Most young people are going to immediately want race cars or muscle cars for their first vehicle. However, a nice safe, and stable vehicle is the best option. Conduct an extensive online search and find out what the safest car for sale is in your price range. Make sure that you buy it from an approved dealership, not a private seller. An approved dealership will offer a warranty. Private sellers will not.

Explaining the Risks

Explain the risks of driving dangerously to your child. Sometimes all it takes is to sit down with a young person and explain to them the harm that can come from dangerous driving. Do not sugarcoat it. If you want to further illustrate the dangers of driving, make sure that you show them videos and photographs of the aftermath of crashes. Do not scare your child into never wanting to drive, however. If you are going to show them this kind of thing, make sure that you accompany it with tips for driving safely.

Observing Your Child’s Driving

Finally, observe your child’s driving when they are out on the road. Watching how your child handles themselves in a car is one of the most effective ways of ensuring that they stay safe. If you notice your child exhibiting dangerous behavior behind the wheel, step in and reprimand them. Do not allow your child to continue practicing bad habits in their car. If you think they are driving very dangerously, take their car away from them. If you bought and paid for it, it is your right to do this. When they drive safely again, give it back.

Driving is an unavoidable part of life. It’s a rite of passage, even. Obtaining a license marks the progression from child to adult. When your child gets their license, do everything you can to make sure that they drive safely.