Teen Driver Safety: A Parent’s Checklist For Accident Prevention

Your children are, understandably, the most important people in your life. So while they’ve likely been counting down the minutes til they could finally get their driver’s license, you may have been holding your breath, wishing that the newfound freedom of the open road didn’t come with risks for your teen’s safety. While there are many factors involved that you or your teen cannot control, there are safety measures that can be taken to ensure that your child is adequately prepared to navigate the responsibilities and potential hazards of driving. In this blog we’ll discuss the importance of teen driver safety, as well as the pivotal role you play as their parent, so that you can use this blog as your personal checklist for accident prevention. Let’s begin!

Preparing For The Driving Journey

In order for your teen to obtain their driver’s license, there are a few steps they’ll have to complete first! The requirements for a Florida driver’s license are as follows:

• Be at least 16 years old
• Complete a drug and alcohol course
• Pass a vision and hearing test
• Pass the Class E Knowledge Exam
• Pass the Class E Driving Skills Test
• Provide identification and all required documents
• You must hold a learner’s permit for at least 12 months or until you turn 18, whichever comes first.
• You cannot be convicted of any traffic violations within the year that you received your learner’s permit. 
• You must have 50 hours of driving experience, 10 of which have to be at night. 

Some high schools in Florida offer driver’s education, so it may be possible for some of these steps to be completed during their schooling.

It is paramount to the success of your teen’s driving that you take the time to practice with them. As mentioned in the checklist, a total of 60 hours of supervised driving must take place before a license can be obtained. As the parent, you will have to sign a form that states these hours were met. 

Setting Ground Rules

In addition to practice, you also need to set ground rules for your teen to abide by when they’re behind the wheel. You should explain to your teen that these expectations aren’t to control them, but to keep them safe. A few basic but common rules your teen should follow include but are not limited to the following:

• Always wear your seatbelt
• No texting or talking on the phone
• Follow the laws, including the speed limit
• Don’t ever get behind the wheel intoxicated or impaired
• Respect your curfew. (Florida law states that drivers that are 16 cannot drive between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and drivers that are 17 cannot drive between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.)

You may also want to consider limiting your teen’s allowed number of passengers as the risk of a crash doubles with one teenage passenger present, and triples with two or more teen passengers.

Emphasizing Safe Driving Habits

In addition to your set of expectations and rules, you should also emphasize safe driving habits. The National Transportation Safety Board lists the following as Safe Driving Behaviors for Teens:

• Avoid distracted driving

A AAA Foundation study found that between 2007 and 2015 an average of 59% of crashes contained some type of potentially distracting behavior during the six seconds leading up to a crash. The NHTSA defines distracted driving as any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on the phone, eating or drinking, messing with the radio, and more. 

• Avoid speeding

According to NHTSA, in 2021 speed was a factor in 32% of teen driving accidents. Speed limits are set using speed studies that take into account a variety of factors, including the design speed that was chosen before the road was built. Therefore speed limits are not just suggestions, they are the law, and were established so that drivers can operate the roads safely. 

• Get Enough Sleep Before Driving

Drowsy driving is a risk that many people take after they’ve failed to receive a good night’s rest. Because sleep is detrimental to young adults and adolescents, it’s critical that your teen is properly rested before they get behind the wheel. 

Vehicle Maintenance And Safety

Another safety precaution you should take in ensuring your teens safety is regularly checking on the maintenance of the vehicle. Teach your teen about the importance of oil changes,checking tire pressure, refilling windshield wiper fluid, etc. You should also go over what each of the symbols of their vehicle dashboard mean, as well as adequately prepare them for how to handle these warning symbols when they’re away from home. In case there is an emergency, make sure your teen knows what to do, like when and where it is appropriate to pull over and call for help. 

By encouraging safe driving habits, setting ground rules, and helping your teen understand the importance of driver safety, you can instill responsible decision making that will serve them well on each journey they take. That being said, your role in accident prevention goes beyond teaching driving skills. You can influence and shape the way they drive. By imparting the discussed values early on, you can lessen the chances of accidents on the road for your teen driver. 

How The Florida Law Group Can Help You

Even if you take every precaution and safety measure there is, accidents still occur. If your teen driver was injured in a car accident that they didn’t cause, the car accident injury attorneys at The Florida Law Group can help you seek the compensation you deserve for your teen’s injuries. Since 1984, we’ve recovered $1 billion on behalf of our clients. Our attorneys have over 100 years of combined experience. Allow us to apply our skills and knowledge to your case to help you reach the best possible outcome. Call now to schedule a free, confidential consultation and discover your legal options and next steps.