I launched this blog to provide a perspective that differs from the mainstream literature on teen driving published by motor vehicle departments, driving schools, journalists, and even safety advocates.  A recent article posted on www.Edmunds.com, the car buying website, gives me an opportunity to demonstrate this difference.

I will apologize in advance to Scott Memmer for taking issue with his article, “10 Tips for Keeping Your Teen Driver Safe”.  To their credit, Memmer and his self-described “automotive journalist” colleagues at Edmunds.com confessed at the beginning of their recent, multi-part Teen Driver Safety Series that they are “human beings who love the smell of cars, the look of cars, the idea of cars . . .”, even as they felt compelled to address teen driving because “no automotive-related topic is more pressing or urgent.”  I compliment them for revealing their predispositions and, indeed, the car-loving attitude they bring to their top ten list for parents of teen drivers is consistent with mainstream American advertising:  Cars are sold in ads that glorify speed and showcase risky driving that never results in a scratch or dent much less a crash, while the cautionary words “Professional driver, closed course, do not attempt” are relegated to tiny print at the bottom of the screen.

Here are Edmunds.com’s top ten ways to keep your teen drivers safe (I paraphrase; for the full explanation, see the link above):

1. Pay for extra driver training because driver’s ed is “absolutely deplorable.”
2. Spend lots of time with your teen during the learner’s permit phase, even if it’s tense for you. 
3. Talk to your teen about safety as you supervise the driving lesson. 
4. Don’t yell at your driver until you get home. 
5. Review the driving session after it’s over. 
6. Keep track of your teen’s passengers. 
7. Remind your teen of safety risks. 
8. Choose a safe car (discussed in Part Four of the Edmunds.com series). 
9. Ride with your teen periodically after licensing to ensure safe driving habits. 
10. Have your teen share insurance and other costs.

Well, with all due respect to the automotive professional author, I disagree with the premise of this list and several specifics.  The underlying assumption is that teens must and will be allowed to drive when and where they want, and a parent’s job is to counsel them how to do it safely.  Except for No. 7, this list does not focus on parent decision-making about whether teens should drive at all, or how parents can control and avoid the specific situation that pose the greatest risks for teens.

I disagree specifically with:

Nos. 1 and 2.  See my post, “There Is No Such Thing As A Safe Teen Driver.”  No amount of training can make him or her a safe driver.

 

No. 6.  Keeping track of your teen’s passengers is far too mild a warning; newly-licensed drivers with passengers other than a supervising driver are a documented risk.

 

No. 8.  The assumption is that teens should have their own cars, yet a recent study by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, funded by State Farm Insurance and reported by MSNBC.com, shows that one in four serious teen driver crashes involves a teen who is the primary driver of that car.  The study concludes that “Giving in to teens’ demands for their own cars can have dangerous consequences.”

 

No. 9.  This strikes me as unrealistic.  A teen driver with a parent in the passenger seat will drive cautiously, showing off knowledge of safe driving practices.  Perhaps a parent will pick up on subtle errors, but I doubt that a teen who at other times drives recklessly will do so when Mom, Dad, or a guardian is sitting in the front passenger seat.

But the biggest problem with the Edmunds.com list is what’s missing:  well-informed, day-by-day, conservative parental decision-making about whether the teen driver should get behind the wheel in the first place.  Thus, my Top Ten list for parents:

1. Recognize that all teen drivers are at risk, and be sure that the facts that underlie this reality inform every decision you make as a parent. 
2. Educate yourself not just about your state’s teen driving laws, but about the specific dangers of teen driving. 
3. Don’t force a teen to obtain a driver’s license for your convenience, and don’t allow a teen who is not ready to drive safely to become licensed. 
4. Before your teen is licensed, negotiate and sign a parent-teen driver contract. 
5. If within your financial means, enroll your teen in a hazardous-driving situation school, known sometimes as a “high performance class” or more colloquially, a “skid school.” 
6. Be sure to train your teens thoroughly in bad weather and night driving before allowing them to drive in those conditions.  Driver’s ed in the daytime in the summer followed by unrestricted driving at night or in snow or ice is not adequate training. 
7. Pay close attention to the difference between purposeful and recreational driving and either forbid or put strict limits on any driving that might fall into the latter category. 
8. Look into the technology that is increasingly available and affordable to monitor your teen’s driving:  GPS systems, email alerts if the vehicle exceeds a certain speed, devices that disable cell phones when the car is in gear [all future post topics], etc.  If you sense that your teen needs this type of oversight and you can afford it, buy it. 
9. If your teen receives a ticket or a license suspension, or is required to undergo retraining, don’t fight it, don’t ask for a continuance of a court date, don’t delay.  Let the medicine be administered as soon as possible. 
10. Never put your convenience or saving on the cost of gasoline ahead of safety.

Different, huh?

Again, I respect the views of automobile journalists and others whose profession involves the automobile, but parenting teen drivers begins with informed, conservative consideration of when, where, and under what conditions teens should be permitted to drive in the first place. Good vehicle operation skills are simply not enough, and they are certainly not the place to start a list of things that parents can do to keep their teen drivers safe.

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