Off the Cuff

[#1]

It’s that dreaded time in every parents life. The time that you must watch your teenager get in the driver’s seat…and drive away. Luckily for you (and your teen!), AAA is excited to share a new site for everything you need to know about teen driver safety. Www.TeenDriving.AAA.com brings you the know-how and all else to prepare you for the road ahead.

Clutching the keys will only make your knuckles white.

Start here, with the Parent/Teen Driving Agreement. Agree on the rules, privileges, violations and their consequences with your teen. This should be the first step for making you feel at ease with your child’s new responsibility. As my son could tell you, I had to be very sure we were on the same page, and this agreement helped us coordinate driving times, rules and what happens when those rules are broken.

 

Do you know when to add your teen to your insurance? And what can you do to lower your insurance costs? Www.TeenDriving.AAA.com offers a wide array of tools for both you and your teen—including insurance information and even how to choose a car for your teen.

As parents your job is to also gauge whether your teen is ready for the responsibility of driving. Studies show parental involvement and restrictions significantly reduce risky behavior during a driver’s first 12 to 18 months behind the wheel. So after you drive with your teen, ask yourself if he or she has accomplished these goals:

• Practiced enough and in varying conditions?
• Detects driving hazards and reacts to them appropriately?
• Always buckles up without being reminded?
• Drives the speed limit and otherwise controls the vehicle properly?

• Remains calm while driving?
• Follows your parent-teen driving agreement?

Visit www.TeenDriving.AAA.com today for quizzes to test your teens’s road knowledge, links to driving schools, info on your state’s licensing process, and many more items to make sure your teen (and yes, you) are ready for all that comes with the new set of keys.

[#2]

I loved your Parent/Teen driving agreement! Thank you so much for providing this as a resource. I'm going to print it out and go over it with my daughter, who is in the process of getting her license. She's a responsible teenager but the whole prospect of her being in control of a car and even scarier, being at the mercy of other drivers, just scares the patooties out of me. In our town, we have tragically lost teen drivers to stupidity, and unfortunately, it has just as often been the fault of the other driver. Scary stuff.