Saying Whoa to Your Teen Driver

Have you seen the new whoa public service announcement (PSA)? The one where a mom stops a toddler from sticking a fork in a wall socket, a dad hollers as his grade school age son prepares to shave using a straight razor and another mom intercedes just before her tween and his friends go airborne on their bicycles into the family pool? The final scene is a teen grabbing a set of car keys off the kitchen counter. Before he can rush out the door, mom says whoa.   

There’s no doubt the first three scenarios are fraught with danger, but the last? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the federal agency responsible for the PSA, wants parents to recognize that a teen behind the wheel is risky business. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens 14-18 years of age. In 2011, 2,105 teen drivers were involved in fatal crashes and nearly half (45%) of those involved died.   

The PSA, part of NHTSA’s new “5 to Drive” campaign, makes the point that after spending years protecting our kids against all kinds of dangers, handing them the keys to a two-ton machine with no rules is dangerous. Talking it out with your novice driver and agreeing to and reinforcing the rules before every trip is critical.  

The rules, according to the campaign, are no cell phone use or texting while driving, no extra passengers, no speeding, no alcohol, and no driving or riding without a seat belt. These reminders are designed to counteract poor driving decisions that have contributed to the high death rate among teen drivers. For example, in 2011, over half of the teen occupants of passenger vehicles who died in crashes were unrestrained. Meanwhile, speeding was a factor in 35% of fatal crashes, while 12 percent of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were distracted.   

Peer pressure is also a contributing factor in teen crash deaths. When the teen driver in a fatal crash was unrestrained, nearly all of that driver’s teen passengers were unrestrained, too. A NHTSA study found that teen drivers were 2.5 times more likely to engage in risky behaviors when driving with one teen passenger and three times more likely when multiple teens were in the vehicle. That’s why New Jersey’s graduated driver license (GDL) program places a one-passenger limit on probationary license holders.                                                                                                                                                                           

One of the best ways to reinforce the rules is to require your teen, even if he has his own vehicle, to ask for the keys every time. That practice, according to researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is powerful. Teens who must request permission to use the car are 50% less likely to be involved in a crash compared to teens who have primary access to a vehicle. Teen drivers whose parents control the keys are also less likely to violate the provisions of their state’s GDL program.   

A teen’s chances of crashing are three times greater than any other age group due to inexperience and immaturity. That applies to all teens no matter how smart, talented, respectful and/or conscientious they may be. As parents, we can’t forget this. So the next time your teen grabs the car keys, picture him as a toddler. If that doesn’t prompt you to say whoa, nothing will. 

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