Preparing Your Teenager to Become a Safe Driver
How To Make Your Teenager Become a Safe Driver
Watching your kids grow up is hard, but the day they register for their driving test, you’ll realise that your teenager is becoming an adult. If your teenager is about to start driving, here are some tips from TestBuddy to help you prepare for this transition period.
Finding the Right Vehicle
As a parent, safety is one of your top concerns when your teen gets behind the wheel. You must find a reliable, safe car that won’t break the bank. Mid-sized cars are easy to handle and will still protect your teen in case of an accident.
Be sure the car includes safety features such as electronic stability control, limited acceleration, and automatic emergency braking that will keep your teenager safe on the road.
Getting Insured
Carefully consider the car insurance policy you want for the newest driver in your family. Drivers aged 16 to 19 are three times more likely to have an accident on the road, so young drivers face much higher insurance rates.
Young men pay more for their insurance than young women due to the higher risk of collisions, and where you live will also significantly impact the cost of insurance. Contact a local, trusted insurance agent if you need auto insurance or want a new policy.
Teach Your Teen About Car Maintenance
New drivers don’t know the ins and outs of car ownership, so teach your teen about car maintenance to keep their car running, fuel-efficient, and safe. RAC recommends teaching them how to check their tire pressure, when they’ll need to add some air, and how to check the ridges on the tires for wear and tear. Remind them that the oil needs to be changed every 5,000 miles.
You want to avoid receiving an SOS call when they’ve run out of gas, so teach them how to keep an eye on the fuel gauge and the dashboard warning lights so they’ll be alert to any problems with the vehicle.
Teach Them About Car Break-In Prevention
It’s important to teach your teenager about the dangers of car break-ins. Thieves are always looking for easy targets, and a parked car with visible valuables is an inviting target. Even if you’re running into a store for a quick errand, taking your valuable items or locking them in the trunk out of sight is essential.
A thief who sees an opportunity for a quick score is likelier to break into a car than one who sees no valuables. By making it more difficult for thieves to score easy targets, you can help make your community safer.
Teach Them Proper Smartphone Use
DistractedDriverAccidents.com points out that distracted driving is very dangerous and causes thousands of monthly accidents. It includes changing radio stations, eating while driving, or even putting makeup behind the wheel.
Using smartphones while driving is extremely dangerous, and cell phones are involved in roughly 1.6 million car crashes yearly! Prepare your teen to be a safe driver, and teach them not to use their phone when behind the wheel.
Smartphones are a huge safety hazard, but they’re not all bad. They can provide GPS directions to keep your teen on track, and in an emergency, your teenager will need a way to communicate.
New technology even allows your teenager to connect their phone to the vehicle display and locks the phone to reduce distraction. For Android users, you can interface with your vehicle using Android Auto.
It locks your phone while you’re on the road and puts all the features you need on your car display, using large buttons so you’ll quickly find maps, select music, or dictate a text message to a friend. For iPhone users, CarPlay works in almost the same way, minimising distractions, locking the phone, and keeping your teen safe on the road.
Having a teenager in the house who’s about to start driving can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be.
If you want your teenagers to pass their theory, this Theory Test Course of Annie might help them. Connect with us today for more info!
