Driving Safety Tips: How Parents Can Support Their Teen Driver

Parents know there seems to be an endless list of things you want to teach your child before they leave the nest. At Bark, we hope to be one of your trusted resources when it comes to teaching your child about online safety and technology. But we’re also committed to your child’s overall safety, so we’re going to provide some tips when it comes to another type of technology besides smartphones — driving! 

Much like with smartphones, teens starting to drive for the first time experience a thrill of independence, while parents often experience a newfound level of anxiety. The following is a practical list of driving safety tips that can help you and your teen transition to this brand-new freedom in their life. 

Our Top Four Safety Tips to Support Your Teen Driver

Consider a driving contract 

You may be familiar with the tech contract that we often recommend to parents when they’re introducing tech to their kids for the first time. It creates an opportunity to set expectations for both you and your child and hold them accountable to safe tech practices. 

The same principle can be applied to a driving contract with your teen. Consider sitting down with them and coming up with a list of guidelines that you both find fair and reasonable. 

Here’s a brief list of examples to get you started:

I will 

• Obey traffic rules
• Wear a seatbelt at all times 
• Put phone in glovebox while driving 
• Fill up gas tank before coming home
• Text parent when going to a new place or when plans change 
• Be home by curfew *specify curfew time here*

I will not

• Speed over the limit
• Text while driving 
• Drive while intoxicated 
• Keep music too loud 

I understand that 

• My parents have the right to take my driving privileges away if one of these rules is broken.
• Driving/having a car is a responsibility that I should take seriously.

Share impactful statistics and research with them   

In a similar vein to the tech contract, having open communication with your child about potential dangers on the road is important. If you want to avoid lecturing at your child about the dangers of driving over the speed limit or texting while driving, you may find it helpful to back up your heartfelt warnings with the hard facts. Below are some statistics and resources to share with your child about driving safety.

Statistics 

• Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are nearly 3 times more likely to be in a fatal crash than drivers aged 20 and older. (CDC) 
• The overwhelming majority (75%) of serious teen driver crashes are due to "critical errors," with three common errors accounting for nearly half of these crashes: lack of scanning to detect and respond to hazards, going too fast for road conditions, and being distracted by something inside or outside of the vehicle.  (Teen Driver Source)
• Speeding was a factor in 28% of all fatal crashes that involved teen drivers. (NHTSA) 

Resources 

• DriveitHOME program by the National Safety Counsel 
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving
• Students Against Destructive Driving
• AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
• It Can Wait campaign by AT&T   

Make sure your teen knows what to do in an emergency 

You can only fill their head with so much driving knowledge, but if there’s one thing you’ll certainly want them to know, it’s what to do if something goes awry on the road. This can be anything from how to change a tire to where to find the registration card in the glovebox. An important piece you should make sure they know is that they can always call you if they’re in trouble no matter what — even if they made a mistake, you are a safe place for them to turn to for help.  

Invest in good equipment for safety 

Now for a more tangible tip — consider investing in some equipment or tools that can help keep your teen safer on the road and give you some peace of mind. 

Even small investments like using a location tracking app or giving your child a phone mount to put in their car can make a big difference. Tracking their location allows you to know where they are, especially in the event they need you and you need to get to them. A phone mount can ensure your teen doesn’t have to look down in their lap to get directions, with the phone higher up they can keep their eyes on the road more frequently. 

Some families may invest in something a little more comprehensive like Apple CarPlay. With this, teens can have their texts read out loud and respond using voice commands to avoid the temptation to type out a text while driving. Other families with the means to do so may consider the car itself, looking for one that has a backup camera or lane assist for their new drivers. 

The Bark Phone: Perfect For Your Teen Driver 

We created the Bark Phone to come with premium parental controls to keep your child safer when it comes to the online world, but the Bark Phone can also help with driving safety. The Bark Phone includes a special driving feature that will lock the phone when it detects it’s in a moving vehicle. Additionally, the Bark Phone comes with powerful, GPS-powered location tracking features so you can have peace of mind whenever your child takes the wheel. You can even set up location alerts to know when your teen has arrived or left frequent locations like home, school, or a friend’s house. 

Bark Phone plans start at just $39/month — order yours today!