A nightmare of many parents is the day that their teen gets their driver’s license as they might be too careless behind the wheel. Other parents have nightmares about the driving permit as they actually had to witness what their teen thought was safe driving. Safe driving is extremely important as inexperienced drivers might not know what to in certain emergencies. It is the job of you as the parent to teach your teen the ins and outs of driving that they might not learn at driving school. The following are tips to help your teen become a safe driver and rules to help ensure it.
No More Than 1 Friend In The Car
One of the worst things that teenagers do is that of driving in a distracted manner. This could mean friends touching the radio or screaming in the back at their boyfriend or girlfriend. For this reason it is important to limit the amount of people that your teen is allowed to have in the car at one time. There are cases when this rule can be bent but keep it as a general rule until your teen has proven they can have friends in the car without being distracted.
A Ticket Means Paying Your Own Insurance
There are parents who have been cursed with a teen who speeds like there is no tomorrow. This is fine if the teen is paying their own insurance and understand the consequences of crashing at a high speed
(which very few do). Let your teen know that they will have to pay for their own insurance in the case of a speeding or careless driving ticket. A minor accident caused by weather can be a pass but this is a special circumstance. Take a reckless teen off of your insurance as they can leave the family legally liable as well if they hurt or kill someone due to their driving. If your teen has to get a job to pay for the insurance, this can help teach them responsibility as working these jobs can be punishment enough.
Call Home or The Family Lawyer In Case Of An Accident
The most important thing to stress to your teen is not to be afraid to call home in case of an accident. Teens can panic and admit fault even if the accident was the fault of the other driver. Getting flustered is a staple of most teens so tell them to call you or a family lawyer if you have one before speaking to authorities. Police are trying to put one party at fault so make sure to only give details of the course of events. Tell your teen to stick to the facts rather than their feelings or what they might have been thinking about that caused the crash. Drive to the scene immediately if possible to handle this in person to make sure nobody is trying to take advantage of a teen who has just endured trauma.
Always Seek Medical Attention
Being hurt in a car accident does not always show the injury at first as many of these injuries can be lingering. If your teen even has an inkling that they are hurt it is important to seek proper medical attention. This doesn’t always mean an ambulance but you can drive them to the emergency room yourself as they will need some consoling. Do not have your teen live with a lingering injury for life because they didn’t seek proper attention.
As you can see this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting your teen to drive in a safe manner. Comment some of your tips if you have had a teenage driver before.
