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Preparing teen drivers for the road ahead

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Taylor Memorial Award for Drivers Education Application

​Danger Zones for Teens Behind the Wheel
Seven teens a day are killed in car crashes. Make sure your young driver is aware of the leading causes of teen crashes, and put rules in place to help your teen stay safe.

  1. Driver Inexperience 
    Most crashes happen during the first year a teen has a license. Provide at least 30 to 50 hours of supervised driving practice over at least six months. Make sure to practice on a variety of roads, at different times of day, and in varied weather and traffic conditions. This will help your teen gain the skills he or she needs to be safe.
  2. Driving with Teen Passengers 
    Crash risk goes up when teens drive with other teens in the car. Follow your state’s teen driving law for passenger restrictions. If your state doesn’t have such a rule, limit the number of teen passengers your teen can have to zero or one. Keep this rule for at least the first six months.
  3. Nighttime Driving 
    For all ages, fatal crashes are more likely to occur at night; but the risk is higher for teens. Make sure your teen is off the road by 9 or 10 p.m. for at least the first six months of licensed driving.
  4. Not Using Seat Belts 
    The simplest way to prevent car crash deaths is to buckle up. Require your teen to wear a seat belt on every trip. This simple step can reduce your teen’s risk of dying or being badly injured in a crash by about half.
  5. Distracted Driving 
    Distractions increase your teen’s risk of being in a crash.
    Don’t allow activities that may take your teen’s attention away from driving, such as talking on a cell phone, texting, eating, or playing with the radio.
  6. Drowsy Driving 
    Young drivers are at high risk for drowsy driving, which causes thousands of crashes every year. Teens are most tired and at risk when driving in the early morning or late at night. Be sure your teen is well rested before he or she gets behind the wheel.
  7. Reckless Driving 
    Research shows that teens lack the experience, judgment, and maturity to assess risky situations. Help your teen avoid the following unsafe behaviors. Speeding: Make sure your teen knows to follow the speed limit and adjust speed to road conditions. Tailgating: Remind your teen to maintain enough space behind the vehicle ahead to avoid a crash in case of a sudden stop.
  8. Impaired Driving
    Even one drink will impair your teen’s driving ability and increase their risk of a crash. Be a good role model: never drink and drive, and reinforce this message with your teen.
Source: CDC.Gov
Check weather conditions at http//www.weather.com to find the conditions of the interstates and roads you will be traveling.
Know road construction and conditions BEFORE you depart by visiting http://www.trafficwise.in.gov/ for up-to-the-minute traffic information, detours and road construction BEFORE you leave.
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