4 Driving Experiences Your Teen Needs

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Many experts agree that extra drive time and more experiences, some of them unplanned, help teens become well-rounded, independent drivers. When you’re plotting out routes and times of day for your teen to practice driving, cover these four scenarios.

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Graduated driving laws and driving curfews all help to give new drivers limits, but there’s no substitution for diverse time behind the wheel.

 Your teenager may diligently observe the local driving curfew for minors. He or she might always turn a smartphone off before buckling up and turning on the ignition.  But throw an unexpected ingredient into drive time — bumper-to-bumper traffic, inclement weather, a warning light, even fatigue — and suddenly safe driving for teens may get a whole lot trickier.

Many experts agree that extra drive time and more experiences, some of them unplanned, help teens become well-rounded, independent drivers.  When you’re plotting out routes and times of day for your teen to practice driving, cover these four scenarios.

Bad Weather

Most teens probably learn textbook answers to questions about how precipitation affects roads.  They may know that during the first half hour of rain, water mixes with oil and dust before washing away, which can lead to slicker surfaces.  However, driving during less-than-ideal weather is necessary for still-learning drivers.  Make sure to ride along with your teen driver in the following weather-related scenarios:

• windy days (gusts may push the car or toss debris on a roadway)
• rainstorms
• light snow
• sleet

Changes of the Sun

As the sun angles up and down in the sky, two things happen to drivers.  First, the light can become a hazard as it shines directly into eyes.  Second, the hours closer to dawn and dusk have a reduced light level.  If you can, make sure to accompany your teen on drives around those dangerous times of day.

Different Traffic and Road Types

Bumper-to-bumper traffic, as well as the freeway, challenges even the most experienced driver in a much different way than a stretch of open, unencumbered road.  Ensure you accompany your teen driver on:

• interstate or four-lane highways
• one-way roads
• two-way streets in calm residential areas
• streets in more urban settings
• rush hour

New Passengers and Diverse Vehicles

Your teen won’t always be driving with just you and only you as a sidekick, or only in your car.  Invite another person or two as third or fourth passengers (as state driving laws allow).  If your family owns more than one car, a new driver should gain experience in all of them.  That way they’ll be able to more readily adapt to a future (and drives) filled with family and friends.

Safe Driving For Teens: A Checklist

Use this list to help evaluate how well your teen is gathering driving knowledge.

• Do they turn at the correct speed and only after signaling?
• Is braking smooth?
• Is acceleration steady up to safe speeds?
• Is your teen attentive and mindful when approaching both controlled and uncontrolled intersections?
• Can your teen smoothly change lanes and merge into traffic?
• Does your teen correctly determine right-of-way?
• Can your teen safely share the road with cyclists, pedestrians and buses (public or school)?

Contrary to what we may think about the 100 Deadliest Days, inexperience behind the wheel, while it is a factor in teen deaths during the summer months, is not the leading cause of deaths of teen drivers and their passengers; teens who have been driving for a few years are impacting the statistics more and more every year.  After the fear of driving solo dissipates, teens can become complacent and take risks (whether it be for fun or because they are careless).

By providing the opportunity to learn from your examples early, and from your explanations and experiences, you are giving your teen the confidence and knowledge they need to keep safe driving their first priority.

At Preferred Mutual, we know safe driving is a priority for you, and that’s why it is a priority for us.  A good auto insurance policy not only protects your vehicle, it protects the ones you love.  And we’re committed to give you peace of mind with a host of coverage options for you and your family.

Now, that’s driving and living assured.

This information is intended for educational purposes only and is not legal advice and/or an authoritative guide.