Traffic
crashes are the leading cause of teen fatalities, accounting for 44% of teen
deaths in the U.S.
The National Safety
Council sees the issue as a national crisis. We have segmented the problem into
three distinct areas, and have adopted strategies to address each of them:
Reduceteen drivers' exposure to risk
Modify risky driving behavior
Develop driver skills and experience
Modify risky driving behavior
Develop driver skills and experience
Reducing
risk
We're on a mission to
inform parents of teen drivers that they can beat the odds. In November 2002,
papers prepared by acknowledged experts were presented at the "Symposium
on Graduated Driver Licensing: Documenting the Science of GDL." The
proceedings provide a comprehensive review of the research that has been done
on teenage driver safety issues.
Since the symposium was
held, the National Safety Council and its partners in teen driving safety have
been distilling the scientific research to present the facts to driver safety
professionals and to families, using a variety of methods,
Our new Alive at 25 Parent Program is developed
specifically for parents of new drivers. This innovative 3-hour course helps
parents partner with their teens to help them become safe, responsible, and
defensive drivers.
The new Family Guide to Teen Driver Safety is
one way we are helping families understand the truth about risks, and the
practical wisdom of graduated privileges.
NSC and its local chapters will be holding
parent workshops to introduce the Family Guide to parents. If you are
interested in attending a workshop in your area, please send us an e-mail at
support@nsc.org with your name, address and phone number. A representative from
the NSC chapter in your area will contact you.
Each year, the Journal of Safety Research®
publishes articles summarizing recent graduated driver licensing and tee driver
research..
This collection of web pages is another way. We
will be adding to the information here, so be sure up sign up with your e-mail
address to receive reminders to check back for new content.
Traffic safety programs
for teens are often designed to help teens modify their own driving behavior to
reduce risk of crashes. But we know that many teens have difficulty regulating
their risk-taking behavior, and recent research is beginning to give us insight
into why. Researchers are finding that the area of the brain that governs
weighing consequences of one’s actions, suppressing impulses and organizing
thoughts does not fully mature until about age 25. In addition, hormones are
active and influencing the brain’s neurochemicals that regulate excitability
and mood. This can result in thrill-seeking behavior and other experiences that
create intense feelings, during years when the brain’s ability to make people
more responsible is not yet fully mature. It’s also during these years that
teenagers typically learn to drive.
A balanced approach to
traffic safety for young drivers should not depend entirely on teens regulating
their own driving behavior. Many factors influence teen driving, including
friends and peer pressure, a belief in invincibility, and physiological
changes.
Defensive Driving Course-Alive at 25 can help teens deal with
these issues that can influence their driving behavior.
By adding a GPS Tracking Device to your child's vehicle, you can help reduce speeding and work with your child on driving behavior.can provide the necessary information to help reduce speeding.
Developing
skills
Driver education
programs can prepare young people to drive and can play a role in helping teens
to begin developing driving skills. However, completion of driver education
does not mean that teens are then ready to manage a full range of driving
challenges. What research shows is more important to safe driving is the
opportunity to improve driving skills through gradual exposure to
increasingly-challenging driving tasks. Teens become safer drivers as they
build driving experience and develop safe driving habits and behaviors.
Driver education can help provide the foundation for safe behaviors through knowledge and practicing beginning skills. Driver education should be viewed as the beginning of a process through which teens learn valuable driving skills and the experience necessary to make them safe drivers. Parents should not rely solely on driver education to provide teens the significant knowledge and experience that they need to become safe drivers. Too often, completing driver education is viewed as the end of the learning process, rather than the beginning. In some states, the completion of driver education qualifies a teen for full driving privileges. The National Safety Council believes this is not a wise approach. Research has shown that significant hours of behind-the-wheel experience are necessary to reduce crash involvement risk. In the process of obtaining that experience through the first two years of driving, the risk of crash involvement can be reduced through state-imposed graduated licensing and parental restrictions.
The National Safety Council
www.nsc.org Driver education can help provide the foundation for safe behaviors through knowledge and practicing beginning skills. Driver education should be viewed as the beginning of a process through which teens learn valuable driving skills and the experience necessary to make them safe drivers. Parents should not rely solely on driver education to provide teens the significant knowledge and experience that they need to become safe drivers. Too often, completing driver education is viewed as the end of the learning process, rather than the beginning. In some states, the completion of driver education qualifies a teen for full driving privileges. The National Safety Council believes this is not a wise approach. Research has shown that significant hours of behind-the-wheel experience are necessary to reduce crash involvement risk. In the process of obtaining that experience through the first two years of driving, the risk of crash involvement can be reduced through state-imposed graduated licensing and parental restrictions.
