Tips For Teen Drivers When Driving With Friends

For teen drivers, getting their driver's license means a sense of freedom they have never had before. As new drivers, they often want to head out, pick up their friends and drive around town doing nothing. While that seems like the typical teen thing to do, it can also be a very dangerous (and sometimes illegal) thing to do. Studies have shown that the crash risk doubles when teens drive with one friend and it almost triples with two or more teen passengers. To help keep everyone safe, we are sharing a few tips for teen drivers to help them out when driving with friends.

Know Your State Laws

When it comes to getting your drivers license, most states have their own Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) provisions. Because of that, the rules of driving with your friends may be different, based on the state where you live. Some states may allow teen drivers to drive with family members only or some require teen drivers to be supervised by someone over a certain age. Sometimes the rules change and at 17 years old you can have one passenger and then at 18 years old, you can have as many passengers as seatbelts in the vehicle. Regardless, know your state laws and make sure your teen driver does too.

Tips For Teen Drivers

While these tips are aimed at teen drivers, they could be used by any driver. Our mission at Coastline Academy is to eradicate car crashes. We want to keep everyone safe when they get behind the wheel, which is where implementing some of these tips into your daily driving would be beneficial to achieving our mission.

1. Make Sure They Understand Their Responsibility

When we step back and realize how big of a responsibility driving truly is, I think then we start to appreciate the responsibility more and know the weight of that responsibility. We are getting in a vehicle and the driver is responsible for the safety of every person in the vehicle. Knowing that we are in charge of keeping them safe, that tends to weigh on people's minds and will remind them of how important their role as driver is.

2. Set Rules For Your Car

As the driver, you have to remember this is your car and you make the rules for your car. Some rules for anyone that agrees to get in the vehicle with you:

• Keep the music at a reasonable level
• Always wear a seatbelt
• If it is a stressful situation, remain quiet
• Never act out wildly
• Never encourage the driver to drive unsafely
• Respect whatever the driver needs

3. Set Your Own Restrictions

While the GDL program sets it's own rules and regulations, whose to say you aren't allowed to set your own restrictions for your teen driver? As a parent, you can see how your teen driver is progressing, so maybe you don't think they are ready to have more than one passenger in the car after six months. Well, extend that and only allow them one passenger for 12 months or however long you feel comfortable. You don't feel comfortable with them driving at night? Well, make a restriction of them having to be home before the sun sets.

4. Positive Reinforcement

While your teen may not be too happy with the restrictions you set above, a good way to counter that is with some positive reinforcement. You can do this by easing up on some of your rules and restrictions when they start showing they are a safe, responsible driver. Rewarding good behavior in these early stages of driving can help them develop driving habits that will last a lifetime.

5. Build Their Confidence

One of the most important elements of safe driving is confidence. When the driver feels confident behind the wheel, they are able to make better decisions. Not only will confidence help your teen driver react appropriately to unexpected road conditions that may come their way, but it also can give them the confidence to tell their friends to keep it down and no distractions while they are driving. The previous two tips are great ways to help build their confidence.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our friendly support staff. If you want to start your driver's training journey with Coastline Academy, make sure to sign up for Drivers Ed and book your driving lesson today.