Safe Teen Driving Blog

There is a program in the Indianapolis area called the Drive Rite Keys to Smart Driving and it is being offered through the county sheriff's office. This program is unique as it is a requirement for parents to monitor this course with their teenagers. What a novel idea - having parents take charge of their children's driving! Instead of hoping that your teenager has gotten enough information through required driver's education courses, this course is more comprehensive and takes six months to complete.

During the six-month course, teens learn responsible driving behavior, traffic safety, how to drive defensively, and how to handle an accident. Both parents and teens have to attend together and are taken through real world experiences as well as interactive lessons. Many parents feel that the course greatly enhances the regular curriculum they have studied through driver's education.

The Drive Rite course also makes teenagers responsible for on-line assignments as well a driver’s logbook to write down all of their experiences while on the road. In addition, parents are required to monitor additional training outside the classroom behind the wheel of a car. With both parent and teen participation in this course, there should be no gray areas of understanding what a responsible driver really means. In fact, parents may get a few eye-openers as well. It never hurts to remind seasoned drivers of some of the safety rules because we all know that we can also be rather lax in driving habits!

The driving course is coordinated through Purdue University and while intense, only meets once a month for the six months. While the purpose of this class is to educate, it also does so much more. It gets both the parents and the teens talking to each other and relating how the other feels about driving, road responsibility and more. Even if either party doesn't learn anything else, the Drive Rite class gets the parents and teens communicating which is sometimes half the battle.

The goal of the course is to help prevent teen deaths due to car accidents. Will this program work? Chances are that it will... at least for a while. With teens, those good habits have to be instilled early in order for them to stick whether they have others to distract them or not. Hopefully, with both the parents and the teens working together, the commitment to drive safely will stick far beyond the classroom walls.

Learn more about driver training and traffic school at Lowest Price Traffic School.