What Teenagers’ Parents Can Do

When parents understand the risk factors involved in letting 16 year-olds get behind the wheel, they can act to improve the situation for their own children:

• Provide 16 year-olds as much driving time supervised by an adult as possible, even after the teens get licensed.
• Be aware of the high risk when 16 year-old drivers and their peers travel together without any adults present. Make new drivers wait until they've had plenty of supervised driving time before going out with friends. Don't assume your 16 year-old drives the same way with peers as when you're in the car.
• With or without a curfew law, prohibit late night driving that's unsupervised. Teen outings late at night tend to be recreational and pose more risk.
• Don't assume your 16 year-old uses belts when out with peers. Insist on belts all the time.
• Choose safe cars. Large ones are safer than small ones, and air bags enhance safety. Remember: the combination of high performance cars and a young driver can be deadly.
• Prohibit driving after drinking any alcohol. Even though this is a factor in only a small percent of crashes involving 16 year old drivers, it becomes a much worse problem among older teenagers.