Surviving the Teenage Driver
by Karla R. Cook

Gasoline prices have leapt over the four-dollars-a-gallon hurdle, but America's car culture looks like it's here to stay. Sometimes it seems as if every New York State teenager is counting the days to his or her sixteenth birthday and trading in the bicycle for the family car, while parents like me dread this American rite of passage. I can remember when my son was just a baby, depending on me for his every need, and now he is almost six-feet tall, counting the days until we let him apply for his driver's permit while he saves his money for a truck!

Parental fears are not unfounded. In 2006, there were 38,588 fatal traffic accidents in the U.S.A. Compare those figures with these aviation statistics from the National Transportation Safety Board: In 2006, there were two major airline carrier accidents with at least one fatality and the 2007, NTSB preliminary figures show no major airline accidents including fatalities.

Statistics about teenage drivers are worse. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: 16-year-olds get into accidents almost six times more often than drivers between the age of 30 and 59; and it isn't just teenage boys that are risky drivers! Data from the National Highway Safety Commission shows that 16-year-old girls are involved in more crashes and fatal motor vehicle accidents than 10 years ago, while the crash rate for 16-year-old boys is dropping! "Unfortunately, we are seeing young females imitate or become more aggressive drivers, and because of that, their rates are... coming up pretty equal [to] young male drivers," says Bob Wilson of the National Safety Council.

Not only that, a May Associated Press Article states that NHTSA reports 68 percent of young drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 killed in car crashes at night in 2006 were not wearing seatbelts! During the daytime, 57 percent of the young motorists and passengers who were killed were not wearing seat belts. Says NHTSA administrator Nicole Nason, teenagers frequently bring a "combination of inexperience and fearlessness" when they fail to buckle up in the cars. "It's a deadly combination."

As if that weren't bad enough for the parents of any teenager itching to drive: the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that drivers aged 16 to 19 had more accidents per 1,000 licensed drivers than any other age group and that 16-year olds had the most. Teenagers were also No. 1 in fatal accidents, and 16-year-olds topped that list as well.

If you think all these statistics are meaningless, consider the following: My good friend Steve Bucala, owner of Bucala Construction of Red Hook, has three grown children. He tells me that each child has known a peer at Red Hook High School who died in an auto accident. This situation also is true with my own son: Last winter, a Red Hook High School freshman was killed while riding in a car driven by a recent Red Hook High School graduate, and another passenger, also a Red Hook High School freshman, was rushed to Albany Medical Center in critical condition. Both students were girls. My son, who received the bad news via a text message on his cell phone, was grief stricken when he heard the news. "I woke up to find out that someone I know is dead," he told me.

But even the death of a peer doesn't necessarily make a teenager any more cautious. A few weeks ago a 15-year-old teenaged boy I know was caught by the Red Hook police riding a friend's dirt bike in the street. Being that it was his first offense, he got off with a warning instead of five traffic tickets (ouch!) It seems his friends had schemed together—one lent him the helmet and the other lent him the dirt bike. The boy's parents grounded him for a month.

Teen drivers often do what their parents tell them not to do because of peer pressure. A cult favorite, That 70's Show, has an episode where Eric Foreman, the teenager with the family station wagon, drives his friends in it to a rock concert in Milwaukee even though his father has told him never to take the wagon on the road because it can barely hold up around town. Fans of the show know that the car breaks down on the way to Milwaukee and the kids have to exchange a pair of concert tickets for repairs to the wagon. To heck with safety.

Since parents cannot lock up their teenagers in an attic room until they turn 35, they must be well informed and diligent in monitoring their teenage drivers. The best thing you as parents can do to protect your children, say driver safety experts, is to drive with them. These experts recommend that parents not rely solely on driver education, as kids who take driver education aren't necessarily safer drivers. Restrict night driving, as most nighttime fatal crashes among young drivers occur between 9 p.m. and midnight. Restrict the number of teenage passengers in the car. Be a good role model. Require safety belt use. Prohibit driving after drinking. Choose vehicles for safety, not image.

What the experts don't tell you that other parents will is to make sure your teenager has a cell phone with him when he drives in case of an emergency. These days, it isn't safe to rely on the kindness of strangers when a teenager is in a jam.

Many resources are available on the Internet to help parents keep informed, including AAA's Car & Travel. Because many parents opt to teach their children, AAA offers resources such as Teaching Your Teens to Drive, and some AAA chapters in the Tri- State region offer driver's education courses, such as a 5-Hour Pre-Licensing Course for $25. Another resource on the Internet for parents and teenagers is the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles website, www.nysdmv.com. Included is the brochure New York's New Driver Program, which explains the rules and regulations pertaining to a learner's permit, junior drivers licenses and senior drivers licenses and the special restrictions pertaining to New York City and Downstate New York, such as driving on the Taconic Parkway in Westchester County. Read this information and have your teen study it well.

Another Internet resource is the auto insurance industry itself. The Travelers Companies, Inc., or www.travelers.com, for example, has a list of tips for teenaged drivers, including:

Avoid vehicles that encourage reckless driving (i.e.., sports cars); don't let your teen drive an unstable vehicle (i.e., sports utility vehicles); pick a vehicle that offers good crash protection; don't let your teen drive a small vehicle; and avoid older vehicles.

Besides the safety issue, there's the cost of insuring the teenage driver. As I constantly tell my son, "I am NOT Nelson Rockefeller!" Since teenagers' crash rate per mile driven is four times that of drivers older than 19, insuring them is a pricey proposition. More than half have an accident within their first year of driving. The scary part: according to one study cited by Allstate Corp., 61% of teens said they take risks because they're convinced that they're good drivers.

Consumers Reports urges people shopping for auto insurance, especially for teenagers, as the rates vary from insurer to insurer and from state to state. Don't be afraid to call your local insurance agent. Your local agent is familiar with the local community and the various premium discounts that are available. Does your son or daughter have a GPA of 85 percent or above or the equivalent? If so, some auto insurers will take $350 off the cost of the premium. Has your child completed an approved drivers education course? If so, that might be good for another $200 off the premium.

June Visconti, owner of June Visconti Insurance of Red Hook (845-758-6861) is a helpful local resource to parents insuring their teenager driver. Contrary to many safety experts, who are concerned that children with their own cars are more likely to take dangerous risks with them, she recommends that the teenage driver have her or his own car and insurance. Although it is cheaper to put the teenager's car under the parents' policy, Visconti says, "We never think this practice is a good idea. If the parents have a home and other assets, then if the child gets in a car accident, it is possible for the parents to lose their assets." She recommends that parents limit the mileage their teenagers put on the car to save on insurance costs. Also, she suggests "that everyone takes the defensive driving course, as this makes you more aware and lowers your premium."

However, driver's education courses are not offered in all New York State high schools because of the high cost involved in teaching the subject. Dutchess BOCES offers a good course if your high school does not. Parents can expect to pay $350 and up for these courses, but the price is well worth it.

We parents all want our teenagers to have fun and remember their youth as "Happy Days." However, we also want them to survive the craziness of the teenage years and live to be responsible, productive adults. Once our children get behind the wheel and drive off to rendezvous with their friends, we are no longer in control and no longer can protect them from danger. Our teenagers may be taking it easy, but we won't. When our grandchildren arrive and grow into teenagers, our children will understand why the rite of passage of handing over the keys to the family vehicle is so fraught with apprehension and misgivings.