One of the biggest challenges parents can face is when a child is ready to start driving. In fact, this can be a stressful time, especially since parents know the dangers teens can face very well. These parenting tips can help ensure driver safety for teens.
1. Keep a Positive Mindset
Having a negative attitude toward your teen can only lead to frustration and conflict. On the other hand, having a positive mindset can make your children want to listen to you and even do what you say more often. Doing meditation or yoga regularly can give you a way to control your emotions and have extra peace of mind. Moreover, when you feel like losing patience, you can take deep breaths. And when negativity threatens to take over, try being positive.
2. Teach Defensive Tactics
Since there are plenty of wayward drivers out there who don’t follow the rules enough, it’s vital to teach teens how to deal with these people. You can talk to your child about using defensive tactics. For instance, try explaining that someone could ignore a yield or other sign at any time and how to deal with this when it happens. Furthermore, teach teens to stay far away from cars while driving to avoid accidents.
3. Communication is Key
Whether you’re teaching your teenager how to drive or would only like to improve things, effective communication can be useful. Talking openly about what could happen in emergencies and answering any questions that may arise can encourage kids to make wiser choices. Plus, make sure youth understand you’ll always be there through tough times and won’t be overly harsh or strict.
4. Use Apps for Safety
Despite numerous pleas for your teen to put the cell phone down, you may notice the presence of social media while driving doesn’t go away. Instead of trying everything in your power and failing to stop cell phone use, give teens a way to use phones responsibly. For one thing, many apps promote safe driving and can even reward teens with prizes for reaching different goals. Another option to consider for safety is GPS Tracking. This technology can aid in monitoring your child’s location in real-time for peace of mind or in the event of an accident. If you’re a parent in the greater Austin, TX area, Securimax is the company you want to contact to monitor your teen driver right from your mobile device!
5. Limit Passengers
Although teens often love to bring friends for rides, this can be dangerous. Extra teenagers in a car can mean more opportunities to become distracted by laughter and talking. According to research, passenger load can impact car accident chances. Therefore, it’s crucial to set a curfew the minute your teen starts driving.
6. Set a Curfew
When teens start driving without outside help, having too much independence can be an issue. For one, this poses a risk to a kid’s safety for the reason that night driving can be particularly dangerous. New drivers may not see animals on the road and swerve only to wreck. Besides this, at night teens are highly likely to fall asleep or get hit by another driver who’s under the influence.
7. Practice What You Preach
If you do something, whether it’s right or wrong, your child is likely to imitate you. For example, your daughter might see you drive with headphones on which can make you a bad influence. Another bad habit you may have is if you text while you drive. Sadly, this can lead to serious car accidents and even death. But by doing the right thing, you can lead by example. Further, this can give you a reason to feel better about yourself and your parenting skills.
8. Commit to Have Patience
While sometimes you might feel like giving up, committing to have patience through it all can be rewarding for you as a parent. Of course, you can use this as a way to show how much you care about your kids. And remember that teaching kids how to be safe drivers is about safety and not control. Not to mention the fact that seeing the situation this way can be helpful in staying positive and being respectful of your child’s boundaries.
Conclusion
Although teenagers may not always care about safety, it’s important to remember you were once a teen yourself. This can be helpful in being more understanding of your child. Plus, teaching your kids good driving habits now is a smart way to prepare for the future.
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