Teen Driving Risk: The Promise of Parental Influence and Public Policy

Abstract

An analysis is presented of adolescent driving risk, the advantages of graduated licensing programs, and the potential for parent-based programs to moderate teen driving risks. Risk factors associated with youthful driving illustrate the potential importance and benefits of limiting the amount and conditions under which teens can drive. State policies, such as graduated driver licensing systems that formalize restrictions on youthful driving. have been shown to be effective. However, teen driving risks remain elevated. Parents are in a prime position to extend the benefits of state restrictions by developing and implementing their own tailored family policies on adolescent driving. Unfortunately, parents of adolescent drivers are often under-aware of the need to do so and fail to impose effective driving restrictions. An ongoing parent-based intervention to increase parental restriction on teen driving is described, and issues involved in implementing and evaluating family-centered approaches to reduce teen driving risk are raised.

Student drivers: A study of fatal motor vehicle crashes involving 16-year-old drivers

“…6,36,[43][44][45] Media campaigns that combine public education and law enforcement are also promising strategies. Finally, engineering strategies, including black boxes for parental review and devices that can mitigate rollover risk and lane departures, could have a significant positive impact on teen driver safety.…”

Parent–Teen Disagreement of Parent-Imposed Restrictions on Teen Driving After One Month of Licensure: Is Discordance Related to Risky Teen Driving?

“…A growing body of evidence indicates that parents can play a crucial role in reducing the level of teen driving risk (Beck et al, 2002;Preusser et al, 1985;Simons-Morton et al, 2002;. Several investigations (Hartos et al, 2000(Hartos et al, , 2001 have found that teens who report high levels of parental monitoring and driving restrictions are less likely to engage in a variety of risky driving behaviors and to report violations and crashes than are those with fewer restrictions and less monitoring.…”

Persistence of effects of a brief intervention on parental restrictions of teen driving privileges

“…9 14 20 GDL, however, is largely passive and parents are the true enforcers of GDL policies and any other restrictions on teen driving because they can control access to the car. [21][22][23] Viewed from this perspective, GDL establishes basic restrictions on young drivers and makes restriction normative, which might make it easier for parents to limit initial driving privileges, 24 despite teens intense motivation to drive. 25 In addition, most parents impose modest restrictions on teen driving 23 and parental restrictions are negatively associated with risky driving among young drivers.…”