Teen Driving 101 | Seattle Car Accident Attorney

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Working in a Seattle personal injury law firm as a Renton car accident attorney I understand how dangerous the roads can be. Everyday there are thousands of car accidents and over a hundred deaths. The chance of being involved in a fatal accident in one’s lifetime is 1 in 75. The statistics are even more disastrous for teens- with car accidents being the leading cause of death among 16-24 year olds. As a parent myself these numbers get a little disheartening and I dread the day when my two boys will take to the road. Luckily there are some steps parents can do to help make their teens safer behind the wheel.

Though not all driving training courses are the same and I recommend seeking a Defensive Driving course for your teen most driver safety starts at home. Riding with your teen frequently and pointing out different road hazards is the best way for your teen to learn- after all, practice makes better. You must also set rules and boundaries in order to curtail dangerous behavior and ensure your teen is not exposed to dangerous situations prematurely. Night time driving and driving with multiple passengers have both been shown to lead to most teen accidents and these are easily prevented by establishing simple rules and boundaries.

For more information on preventing teen accidents read my article Top Teen Driving Tips. This article discusses in more depth what rules and regulations you should set as a parent and ways you can prepare your teen for the road. Increasing our teen’s knowledge and giving them as much hands-on experience as possible behind the wheel is the only thing we, as parents, can do to protect our children from the dangerous of the road. But by being proactive and involved in our children’s driving training will help them learn safer habits—after all, we can’t always ride in the passenger seat—eventually we have to let go and hope we have given them enough knowledge to be safe.