As we approach the summer season many teens will be getting their permit to drive with an adult. This means many parents are going to want safety tips for teaching their teen to drive. We’re sharing some of our favorite teen driving safety tips to help you educate your teen about the road before they get behind the wheel with their driver’s license.
These tips and information will help you feel comfortable as a parent with a new driver and help your teen feel more confident when they sit in the driver’s seat for the first time without you in the passenger seat.
Wear a Seatbelt
The number one safety tip to teach your teen about driving is to always wear a seatbelt. Your teen should know how to properly put their seatbelt on by now, but just in case do a quick refresher about the proper way to wear a seatbelt while driving.
Watch for Bicycles
Many traffic accidents occur with bicyclists, especially during the summer months. Help your teen understand the importance of not checking merely once, but looking twice to make sure there are no bicycles or other things in their blind spots before they proceed to go into an intersection or whatnot.
Teach Right of Way
You may need to review which car has the right of way when you’re at an intersection so that you can help your teen understand this rule of the road. Help your teen understand who has the right of way when you come to a four-way stop or other instances when there are multiple people stopped at a stop sign rather than a traffic light to guide traffic.
Obey the Speed Limit
Help your teen understand that no matter how fast other drivers are going that they must maintain the proper speed limit at all times. The speed limit is there to obey and keep the traffic flowing safely. Your teen will soon find that not everyone obeys the speed limit, but that doesn’t give them the right to speed. They will get pulled over, may receive a ticket, and could lose the privilege of driving in some situations.
Take Drivers Education
Drivers’ education is required in most regions for teenagers who are about to get their driver’s license. Make sure your teen attends a valid teen drivers ed course. This will help them understand all of the rules of the road, and get ample driving hours in between the state provides them with a valid teen driver’s license.
Consider Apps
There are a variety of apps out there that helps teen drivers to stick to safe driving habits. These apps note when your teen speeds or accelerates too rapidly. Not only do they serve as a way to let your teen know how they are driving, they can also let you, the parent, know immediately if your teen is in an emergency situation while driving. These driving safety apps can be a great complement to their driver’s education.
Answer Questions
Lastly, do not be afraid to answer questions that your teen asks. Your teen may have a lot of questions and shouldn’t be shot down for asking these questions. You want to be as open and honest as possible so that your teen will trust you enough to come to you when they have a difficult question or situation that occurs when they’re out on the road with their driver’s license.
The key to having a successful and safe teen driver is to spend quality time with them learning the tricks of the road. You’ll want to make sure they’re confident with parking, traffic lights, turn signals, watching out for other drivers and pedestrians while you are teaching the teen to drive.
You’ll want to do your best to educate your teen driver about the rules of the road and certain safety precautions to take before they head out on their own so that you feel less anxious while your teen is out there driving and gaining some more independence.
