Quick Tips
- Newly licensed drivers should not be driving alone with their peers for at least 1,000 miles or six months.
- Don’t let your teen ride with drivers who have less than a year’s experience. Most teen passengers who die on the road are riding with teen drivers.
- Keep up the driving lessons even after your teen has a license. Those first months of independent driving are the most risky.
- Want to set limits on your teen’s driving? A teen-parent driving agreement can help make rules and consequences clear. For a sample agreement, click here.
- Peer passengers are a deadly risk for teen drivers. Don’t allow child or teen passengers until your teen has been driving independently for at least six months (or 1,000 miles). Limit teen passengers to no more than one for the following six months.
- Set clear rules about safe driving. Teens with parents who set limits on driving are less likely to have crashes, engage in risky driving, or get tickets.
- Talk to your teen about passenger distraction. Only 1 in 10 teens know that they’re more likely to crash if peer passengers are in the car.
- Teens driving without a fixed destination are at a higher risk of getting into a crash. Know where they are going, whom they’ll be with and when they will be home.
- Most teen crashes are the result of “rookie mistakes”. Make sure your teen gets lots of supervised practice even after getting a license.
- Nighttime is dangerous for new drivers. Don’t let your teen drive after 10:00 p.m. without adult supervision for at least 6 months (or 1,000 miles) after getting a license.
- Make sure your teen’s supervised driving practice includes different times of day and routes, as well as various road and weather conditions.
