What did she learn from her parents about driving?
Unintended Drivers Ed
Yesterday Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. released a press release that covered some early results from a national study that they conducted by surveying 5,500 young drivers (age 16 to 18) and parents to see how a parent’s habits behind the wheel impact their teenager’s driver behavior. The results of this study are important to help with driver education since motor vehicle crashes are still the number one cause of teenage death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, on average, seven teens between the age of 16 and 18 die every day due to injuries resulting from vehicular crashes. What can be done to help this problem. According to this study, one very important way to help your teen be a safer driver is to be the model driver you want them to become.
Generally speaking, Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) found that parents who engage in distracting behaviors more frequently have teens who engage in distracting behaviors more frequently. Dr. Tina Sayer, a Toyota CSRC Principal Engineer and teen driving safety expert explained, “Driver Education begins the day a child’s seat is turned around to face front. As the study shows, the actions parents take and, by extension, the expectations they set for young drivers each day are powerful factors in encouraging safe behavior behind the wheel.” The study’s findings include: if a teen thinks his or her parent eats or drinks while driving, the teen is three times (3.4) more likely to do the same thing. If a teen thinks his or her parents look for something in the vehicle while driving, they are four times (4.1) more likely to also look for things while driving. If a teen thinks that his or her parent deals with passenger issues (passenger requests, concerns, or conflicts), the teen is five times (4.7) more likely to also manage passenger issues while driving. These statistics obviously show a correlation between parent behavior and the likelyhood of that same behavior happening with their teen driver. From a driver education and defensive driving course perspective, all drivers are taught to stay singularly focused on the driving task, but this is all the more important for teenage drivers since they are so inexperienced, and due to the increasing list of distractions that are staples in today’s teenage culture. Examples of these include texting, social media sites, mp3 / music players, and other teenage passengers.
Distracted Driving
According to the study, more than a quarter of teens (24 percent) read or sent a text message at least once every time they drive. More than half of teens (54 percent) say that they use a hand-held cell phone. 53 percent admit to searching for music on a portable player ( ipod, etc.). 11 percent say that they update or check social media sites (facebook, etc.) while driving. So with all the campaigns focused on warning the teenage drivers about the dangers of distracted driving, the problem is larger than ever. Another part of distracted driving is the other passengers for teens. AAA has found that nearly three quarters (69 percent) of teenage drivers say that they drive with two or three passengers and no adults in their car, which doubles the posibility of being in a fatal vehicular crash. Almost half (44 percent) of teenagers say they drive with three or more passengers, which quadruples their risk of being killed behind the wheel.
Texas Drivers Ed
In Texas the passenger distraction is taken seriously and is a large reason for the current graduated drivers licensing laws that are being enforced today. For example, Texas drivers under 18 are not allowed to have more than 1 passenger under the age of 21 that isn’t a family member and cannot driver between the hours of midnight and 5 AM for the first six months after receiving their Texas drivers license. However, the texting and other distracted driving habits have had legislation written but currently none of them have been signed into law by the Governor. There is a new legislative session about to begin in 2013, and I am sure new laws will be proposed to tackle the distracted driving issue.
The moral here is to be concience of your actions behind the wheel not only for your own safety but for the example that you are setting for impressionable young minds in the vehicle with you. Be the safe driver that you want your kids to grow to be. Also, don’t be shy about being proactive to improve your driving skills. Don’t wait to get a ticket. Voluntarily complete a Texas defensive driving course and refresh your driving skills. It will make you safer and could also save you money on your auto insurance.
SOURCE Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. Click here for full news release.
