Driving is a privilege your children can receive at a young age. When you really think about it, by age 16, children do not have much life experience or a high level of maturity. However, they can get a license to drive a vehicle in Georgia. This is a serious responsibility. As a parent, you may feel nervous when your child first gets his or her license.
Consumer Reports explains the high number of accidents involving teens is a reason for concern over teen drivers. The majority of the responsibility to teach teens how to be safe drivers falls on parents. Your job is to make sure they learn how to share the road and avoid things that could put them and others at risk of an auto accident. Here are three rules you should follow concerning your teen driver.
1. Choose a car smartly
Some vehicles encourage speeding and bad driving behaviors. Even seemingly passive vehicles can be a bad choice for a teen. Ideally, a small car is the best option because it will not encourage speeding and does not have extra room to pile in passengers.
2. Enforce the laws
The graduated licensing program is in place for a reason. The restrictions on young drivers can help them to avoid driving at dangerous hours or doing other things that statistics show often lead to accidents. You should enforce the laws with your teen driver every time he or she drives, with no exceptions.
3. Make your teen report in
You have the right as a parent to set any rule you want for your teen driver. One of the best rules to put in place and enforce is to make your teen report in. He or she can easily send you a text message when arriving or leaving a destination. This not only gives you peace of mind, but it also holds him or her accountable.
Following these three rules can help you to help your teen be a better driver. The main goal is to help him or her be safe behind the wheel and avoid becoming an accident statistic.
