New tech tools give parents safety leash on teen drivers

In the back of your mind, when you let your teen driver go out the door with your car keys and trust, you worry and wonder.

As National Teen Driver Safety Week approaches on Oct. 20-26, and with car crashes still the leading cause of death among teen drivers, parents have more technology tools to keep their children safe behind the wheel.

“The technology that we’ve seen is really promising,” said John Ulczycki, vice president of strategic initiatives for the National Safety Council. “But we first have to get the parents to step up and to actively use this technology and to understand how it can be an important, valuable tool.”

Safety technology is fast becoming more available and affordable. Smart phone apps can prevent teen drivers from texting or calling while driving. They also can monitor systems that notify parents where the teen is driving and at what speed.

Not only is he an expert on teen driving habits, Ulczycki also is a parent who has shepherded six children now in their 20s through the rigors of learning to drive.

“Technology does not replace good parenting. Most parents way overestimate their kids’ capability and don’t give them nearly enough practice. The leading cause of teen crashes is inexperience. It’s not behavior,’” Ulczycki said.

When your teen is learning to drive, take them driving in a variety of scenarios – freeway traffic, rural roads at night, a shopping mall parking lot with cross-traffic, bright sunshine and heavy fog.

“With my kids, every time it was raining, that’s when I took them driving,” Ulczycki said.

National Teen Driver Safety Week, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is a campaign for drivers ages 15 to 20 to increase seatbelt use, reduce distracted driving, and provide education about the perils of speeding and impaired driving.

As parents gain access to new technology to monitor their teen’s driving, Ulczycki said it’s taking time for parents to use these resources, and in some ways replace old-fashioned trust with a computer.

“People parent in different ways. Some parents will find that inappropriate for their relationship with their kids. Some parents find it very appropriate,” Ulczycki said.

“Is the day coming when a parent can sit at a laptop and control the car? It will be feasible technically before it will be feasible culturally.”

Janeen Steinheimer of Auburn, Calif., uses ”Find Friends” on her smartphone to check location of her teenage male driver. He and his mother discussed dangers of cell phones and driving. Yet, he doesn’t put his phone in “airplane mode,” which would prevent calls and text messages

Simply put, his mother trusts him to make the right decision. Would she install teen driving apps that restrict his phone usage or send her alerts about his driving habits.

“Until he gives me a reason to not trust him, I probably would not consider it,” Steinheimer said.

Ulczycki of the National Safety council had the following tips on teen driving safety:

• Drive to the mall with them – full of hazards in the parking lot and intersections.

• Take them out when the weather is rough. They need the experience.

   

• Let them get a license when they are ready, not because they are 16.

   

• Inexperience, not behavior, causes most teen crashes. Help them practice safe driving techniques before and after they get their license.

   

For more information about teens and safe driving visit the following websites:

• National Safety Council initiative, www.driveitHOME.org

   

• Teens and distracted driving, www.distraction.gov,/Teen-Drivers

   

• National Teen Driver Safety Week, www.ridelikeafriend.org

   

• Parent/teen driving guide and phone apps info, www.safeteendriving.org