A reminder to parents about two topics I have posted about previously: wearing headphones, and using a GPS.

I came across an article from the Canadian version of the Huffington Post, reporting on two separate incidents in which teen drivers were killed when they cars crossed train tracks.  Both were wearing headphones at the time, which prevented them from hearing the approaching trains and then from hearing the warning sirens until it was too late to move out of the way.  As stated in my previous post, ears are an essential part of a driver’s safety, and blocking a driver’s hearing with earpieces or headphones is a dangerous practice.

More recently, The New York Times carried an article by Randall Stross entitled “When GPS Confuses, You May Be to Blame” (September 2, 2012),
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/technology/gps-and-human-error-can-lead-drivers-astray-digital-domain.html?_r=1

The piece tells the funny story of a man from San Diego who used the GPS function on his phone when he arrived on the East Coast, and then finally figured out that the system was directing him to his home in San Diego, not his local business meeting.  But then the piece discusses a frightening variety of navigation troubles that GPS users can encounter by putting in the wrong destination, not following the turn-by-turn directions as they are given by the GPS, or being impatient while the GPS recalculates a route thrown off by driver error.

The GPS pointers for teen drivers are simple:  They are an electronic device. They are distracting. They are not infallible. Teens may think that just because the GPS says to turn that it is safe to do so. If you are sending a teen driver on the road with a GPS as his or her driving directions, you are multiplying the dangers of an already dangerous situation.

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