New Teen Drivers and Their Parents: What They Know and What They Expect

Abstract

Objectives: To assess teens' and parents' knowledge of teen driver safety and to compare teens' and parents' expectations about learning to drive and acquiring a driver's license. Methods: A convenience sample of 613 Connecticut teens enrolled in commercial driving schools and one of their parents completed self-administered surveys. Results: Significant differences between teens and parent expectations were noted in practice driving with a parent, driving to approved destinations, unlimited vehicle access, curfew, and teen passenger limits. Conclusions: The discrepancy between teens' and parents' expectations indicates the need to persuade and empower parents to manage their teen's driving experience more rigorously.

Raising Healthy Children: Examining the Impact of Promoting Healthy Driving Behavior within a Social Development Intervention

“…Further, they found that parental guidelines and monitoring were related to lower likelihood of teenagers being ticketed for a traffic violation. However, several studies have found a discrepancy between what parents expect of their teen regarding driving and what the teen expects (Hartos et al, 2004;Sherman, Lapidus, Gelven, & Banco, 2004). Finally, a recent study (Beck et al, 2005) found that the greater the agreement between teens and parents about restricted driving conditions and consequences, the fewer the teen driving risks.…”

National Young-Driver Survey: Teen Perspective and Experience With Factors That Affect Driving Safety

“…Recent research has suggested that parents can play an important role in enhancing and reinforcing that policy through their teens' licensure process 17,18 and could play a larger role in monitoring them after licensure. 19,20 Driver education and training initiatives have largely been unsuccessful in reducing crashes that involve teenaged drivers. 21,22 This may be due, in part, to a lack of effective content on specific challenges for novice teenaged drivers, such as detection and appropriate response to hazards and appropriate speed adjustment for driving conditions.…”

“My Son Is Reliable”

“…This might influence their conception of their responsibility to their driving safety. Furthermore, studies show there is a gap between what parents think they know about their son's or daughter's driving and what young drivers report (Beck et al, 2002;Cottrell et al, 2003;Sherman, Lapidus, Gelven, & Banco, 2004).…”

“…These conceptions have implications to the design of information campaigns. Researchers propose that parents need to be empowered to manage their teen's driving experience more rigorously (Sherman et al, 2004). Research findings indicate that young drivers themselves do not necessarily always oppose restrictions because they themselves need to cope with the norms of youth's driving culture (Tilleczek, 2004;Vick, 2005).…”