Maybe You Can Drive My Car

My son recently obtained his temporary driving permit.

After he passed the test, we went to to practice. He cautiously maneuvered around the dog park parking lot to become acquainted with my car. I sat in the passenger’s seat in disbelief, remembering the little guy who used to ride in the backseat. He was strapped in his car seat the first time he strung together the beautiful sentence, I love you, momma. No longer a little boy, he’s a young man ready to take on the road.

Of course, I’m worried. At 17, I was the victim of a hit-and-run drunk driver. Intoxicated, reckless and distracted drivers traverse the streets. I shudder to think of them sharing the road with my child. My fears were intensified by a statistic on Myers Driving School’s website: “A teenager is killed in a car accident every 64 minutes, while another is injured every 55 seconds.” Yep, now I’m petrified.

How can parents best prepare their children for the responsibility of driving? There are several resources available to help. Myers Driving School offers various driver education courses, including a class called New Driver Car Control Clinic to help teach teens safe driving skills. 

In addition to classes, Universal Driver’s Training Center offers a modern option for nervous parents called Safe Teen Driver Online. The program asks the community to help monitor teen drivers. Parents place a sticker on their car with an identification number and the question, “Am I driving safely? Email my parents at safeteendriveronline.com.” People can send positive or negative reports to parents via the website (my son is not a fan of this idea).

Teens in Ohio will inevitably encounter snowy, icy roads. Drive Team offers a 4-Hour Winter Skills Clinic to help teens (and adults) improve their ability to drive in inclement weather, as well as other classes.

Keys2Drive is the AAA Guide to Teen Driver Safety with many tips and tools. The site has a printable Start Smart Parent-Teen Driving Agreement and Teen Driving Log.

Parents Are the Key, a campaign sponsored by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, can be accessed online. The campaign “offers parents tools and proven steps for reducing teen driving injuries and deaths.” They also list Eight Danger Zones to raise awareness about the eight leading causes of teen collisions. 

Parents can use these resources to help their teens establish safe driving habits.