Part Three: Discussing Teen Driving with Other Parents
In Part Three, I’d like to address another important factor in enhancing your teenagers driver education experience. Engaging your teen in safe driving is the first step in protecting him from harm, and talking with your adult peers is another important step to raise awareness and drive change. The following are some ideas for discussing the issue with other parents:
* Talk to the parents of your teen’s friends about the rules they have for their teen driver and share your rules as well – an easy way to gather effective resources. It’s just as important to discuss teen driving rules with fellow parents as it is to discuss rules you have regarding teen parties, alcohol use and curfew.
* Convince parents in your community to commit to a common set of driving rules that they’ll enforce. It’s much easier to be an effective parent when you have the support of other parents in your community.
* Find out how other parents respond when their teen violates their family’s driving rules. Ask them how they’ve handled situations that you have found challenging. Parents often gain useful advice from each other.
* Discuss how best to coach teens on what to say when they’re passengers in a car that they think is being driven unsafely.
* Talk to other parents about how to respond if they discover that one of their teen’s friends who has been driving has also been drinking. Give each other the authority to take the teen’s car keys and call the teen’s parents, call a taxi or allow the teen to sleep over. Agree that you’ll never permit a teen to leave your house and drive if you suspect that he has been drinking.
* The next time your school organizes a meeting or back-to-school night for parents of teens, be sure the topic of teen driving is on the agenda.
* Organize a parent discussion at your teen’s school about your state’s Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) requirements to help parents of teen drivers in your community learn the law. Consider inviting a representative from your local police to explain the regulations and how they’re enforced where you live.
As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney i hope the last three blogs have been helpful to the parents of teen drivers. If you need more information check out my website at Phillip Miller & Associates or any of the following web sites:
http://www.stopimpaireddriving.org
Phillip Miller is a Tennessee Accident Attorney specializing in
Phillip has an AVVO rating of 10.0 (Superb), has been designated as a “Superlawyer”, and is the President Elect of the Tennessee Association for Justice.
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