Back to School Safety Tips and New Teen Drivers
It's that time of year again: millions of young people around the world will be returning to school in just a few short weeks. For some, it means getting to show up on the first day of high school in a shiny new car to make all of your friends jealous. For others, it means loading up your car and heading off to college where you will take the first formative steps into adulthood. For everyone, however, it should mean an increased emphasis on road safety and driver awareness - particularly among teens. At Rear View Safety, we believe that there are a few key back to school safety tips and tricks aimed at new teen drivers that cannot be ignored any longer.
New Teen Drivers and the Parental Perspective
As a parent of a new teen driver, you may assume that any safety tips that you instill in your child should be focused on the most obvious road-related dangers. The highway can be tricky to navigate for someone inexperienced, for example, leading to poor decisions and dire consequences. Half of all teens will get into a car accident by the time they leave high school, but not for the reason you might think. Most accidents happen just a few short miles away from the home, in most cases due to the general inexperienced nature of the driver and their misunderstanding of their surroundings.
As a parent, the most important thing that you can do is be willing to teach your child the rules of the road first hand. Driver education is important, so don't take a passive role in something so crucial to your child's safety. Be willing to help if you notice issues in their ability, be parental but not panic-stricken and make sure that your kids know that they can come to you with any questions or problems and that you will maintain a judgment free attitude.
General Safety Tips for Teen Drivers
Make sure that you're teaching your new teen driver that school zones and similar areas have different traffic rules at different times of the day. This isn't something that necessarily makes sense of you're a new driver, but it is hugely important nonetheless. Make sure that they know to watch out for specific signs and rules that are in place at the time they are driving.
Kids are unpredictable, which is something that you also need to teach your new teen driver. Though small children are taught from a young age to look both ways before they cross the street, this is not a guarantee. Make sure that your teen driver knows to be extra vigilant around bus stops, in school zones and in similar areas.
Finally, you'll want to educate your kids about how to handle driving around school busses. Not only do they need to drive slower, but they also need to obey the stop sign built into the bus for the safety of all kids getting on or off. It will be for both the benefit of your child and any other parent's child in the area.
Equipping your new teen driver’s vehicle with a backup camera system is the first step towards avoiding backover or frontover accidents from taking place. Check out the
