Positively Parenting

Teen driving is the one of the biggest threats to our kids’ safety. Everything that we do to protect our kids by using car seats and seat belts, lecturing about looking both ways and following the rules is overwhelmed and swept aside by the shocking statistics of driving and riding with reckless friends. Read the full article, Parent Alert: New Deadly Threat. The first 4 years of driving are the most dangerous. In 2007 alone, 4,540 teenagers aged 16 to 20 years old were killed in car crashes.

Many parents monitor their child’s computer activity and grades, so it only makes sense that they would be able to monitor their child driving a 5,000 pound car as they cruise down the highway. There is a new device on the market that allows parents to check up on their kids’ driving to ensure that they are driving safely. CarCheckup is a handheld device that allows parents to monitor their teen’s driving by measuring extreme acceleration and braking, highest RPM and speed, and distance traveled. You just plug the device into a vehicle’s diagnostic port and leave it there as your teen borrows the car. Then, remove it, swing out the build-in USB port, and plug it into their home computer for a full analysis on the CarCheckup.com website.

It is vital to help your teen understand your expectations as they begin driving. This website also offers a free, downloadable teen driving contract that parents can go over with their teens. From driving hours to alcohol use, the contract serves as an open discussion and to talk about the expectation and importance of being a safe and successful teen driver.

The free comprehensive teen driving contract allows open discussion on what is expected so both sides can agree on how, when, and under what circumstances your teen will drive, agree on the limits you expect them to follow, and agree on the consequences for breaking the terms of the agreement. It is also customizable so parents and teen scan insert their own rules to agree on.