IIHS offers safety roadmaps for parents of teen drivers

(These five soundbites are from Dr. Rebecca Weast [as in “yeast”], a research scientist with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.) “Teen drivers have crash-rates that are nearly four times those of drivers who are 20 or older—due to their inexperience and immaturity. So, it’s critical that they’re in a vehicle that will provide good crash-protection. This means avoiding the smallest vehicles; choosing a car that has good crash-test ratings; and buying as much safety-technology as can be afforded.” (:21) “Study after study has shown that teen drivers are more likely to be killed in older, smaller vehicles. While it may seem logical for parents to hand down an older vehicle to their teen, the reality is that newer vehicles provide much-better protection—and have standard safety-features that can keep drivers of all ages out of a crash in the first place.” (:20) “One technology that’s critical for teen drivers is ‘electronic stability control’—which is standard on newer cars, but might’ve only been an option on older models. Other helpful technologies include ‘automatic emergency braking’, ‘lane-departure warning’, and ‘blind-spot monitoring’—all of which can cut crash-rates. Some new cars also have built-in teen-safety technologies that allow parents to, for example, set a maximum speed—or limit the maximum volume of the stereo. There are also app-based systems for monitoring teens’ driving.” (:33) “Parents should learn about their state’s graduated driver-licensing laws—which govern things like required practice-hours during the learner’s-permit phase, and whether teens are permitted to drive with other teens in their vehicle. However, parents should use those laws as a starting-point—and a stricter set of rules should be applied, at their discretion, if they see fit. One way for parents to make their expectations clear is to sit down with their teen, and sign a contract; that way, there’s no doubt that he or she understands what can or can’t be done while driving.” (:32) “Our website—at ‘i-i-h-s’-dot-org—has a ton of information and resources about selecting a safe vehicle, the benefits of vehicle-technologies, rules that keep teens safe, and highway-safety research.” (:13)