Safe Teen Driving Blog

If you find yourself in the difficult position of having your driver's license suspended for too many points or traffic violations, it's important to follow the proper steps to regain it. Most drivers who lose their licenses for any length of time hope never to repeat the experience, but drivers who have recently had their license suspended are often at high risk of having it suspended again.

First, do not drive on your suspended license, and if you have a hardship license, do not violate the terms specified on the license. If you get caught driving on a suspended license because you commit a violation or are in a crash, your situation will only deteriorate.

Use a small notebook to keep a checklist of the tasks you must complete to get your license back. These tasks may include updating your address with the Department of Motor Vehicles, going to court one or more times, paying fines and/or fees, and/or taking one or more driver education classes.

Take your notebook to every court hearing or DMV appointment so you can record all the information you get in one place. Keep the notebook handy when you make phone calls about your license too. If you call the DMV and get transferred, ask the person who assists you for their name and extension number in case you need to call back later. Make notes of what you’re told and review them before you hang up.

You may feel frustrated if you have to attend traffic school, but this is a good time to review your driving habits and decide how to change them to avoid a future suspension. Try to keep an open mind during the course. You may pick up some tips that will help keep you and your family safe.

Drivers who accumulate several traffic violations over a short period of time are often under considerable stress. Speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, running stop signs and traffic lights, and cutting off other drivers are ways that some people release aggression and relieve stress. It's important to find positive, healthy, legal ways to reduce stress such as exercise, talking problems out with friends or a counselor, and taking time for yourself every day, so you won't take your problems out on the road.

After your license is reinstated, you'll want to be on your best driving behavior. Try to turn a negative into a positive by learning from the experience of having your license suspended. This will give you the best chance of improving your driving record and avoiding future problems.

Labels: drivers license, hardship, license, suspended

Tips for Before you Get Your Drivers License:

1. Learn the material in your driver handbook, not just so you can pass the test, but so you can carry the information into your driving behavior.
2. Memorize the graduated licensing laws in your state. Not only must you follow them, but you shouldn't ride with anyone who isn't following them.
3. Talk to your parents about their expectations and the rules you'll have to follow to use the family car or get your own vehicle. The time to refine the rules is now, before you have your license.
4. Encourage your parents to let you practice driving in unfamiliar areas, at night, when it's raining, and on expressways, not just on familiar streets close to home during daylight.
5. Learn to scan the driving scene ahead so you can anticipate problems and react in time. Ninety percent of driving decisions are based on what you see.

Tips for After you Get Your Drivers License:

6. Sign a driving contract with your parents, specifying driving rules and curfews. Incorporate your state's graduated licensing laws into the contract. The contract should include an agreement for your parents to pick you up, no questions asked until the next day, should you be unable to drive or ride with someone else for any reason.
7. Ask your parents to let you continue practice-driving occasionally; every new driver can use the extra training.
8. Minimize distractions in your vehicle. Keep the radio volume low, put your cell phone away, and ask passengers to minimize conversation. Wear your safety belt and make sure all your passengers wear theirs.
9. NEVER use driving as a stress-reliever. Drivers who do this often speed or get distracted. Learn to manage stress in healthy ways - by taking a walk, taking a nap, talking to a friend, or volunteering.
10. Read the warning labels on any medicines, including over-the-counter (those that don't require a prescription); many medications cause sleepiness or dizziness and shouldn't be taken while driving. Read our most recent post on Teen Drivers and Prescription Drugs.

And of course, NEVER drink and drive.

Labels: driver handbook, drivers license, graduated.license

Most parents live in dread of the day their teens get a driver's license and get behind the wheel alone. Their concerns are well-founded, since teen drivers have the highest death rates in car crashes of any age group. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among Americans aged 15-20.

In this five-part series, we'll discuss the five worst teen driving mistakes:
-They don't wear safety belts.
-They drink and drive.
-They panic/overcorrect in emergency situations.
-They drive too fast for conditions.
-They ride with other teens.

In this, part five of the series, we'll discuss a frequent cause of injury and death in traffic crashes for teens - even when they aren't driving. Riding with other teens is a high-risk activity that your teen will probably participate in even before earning a driver's license.

No matter how skilled a driver your teen is, s/he is still at risk when riding in a vehicle driven by another teen. And it's common for teens to pack a vehicle full of friends who are unlicensed or who don't have access to a vehicle or to save money on gas. Unfortunately, they also do this because it's fun to listen to music, laugh and talk - huge distractions for an inexperienced driver. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, crash risk for teenage drivers increases incrementally with one, two or three or more passengers. With three or more passengers, fatal crash risk is about three times higher than when a beginner is driving alone. About two-thirds of all crash deaths of teens that involve 16-year-old drivers occur when the beginners were driving with teen passengers.

Studies indicate that passenger restrictions can reduce this problem. Passenger restrictions for teen drivers already exist in many states as components of graduated licensing programs. For parents, knowing and enforcing these passenger restrictions means reducing their child's risk of injury or death in a traffic crash. While this sounds easy enough, many parents are unfamiliar with the graduated driver licensing laws in their state. And even those who are familiar may neglect to enforce the restriction. A 2000 survey by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that 84 percent of parents of young drivers favored restricting teenage passengers during the first six months of licensure. But some studies indicate that parents leave enforcement of most graduated licensing restrictions to law enforcement – a mistake, since law enforcement does not have the ability to monitor the behavior of an individual teen the way parents do.

To help ensure the safety of your teen, learn the graduated driver's licensing laws in your state, and make enforcement of them part of your house rules. Monitor your teen's driving behavior, and review the restrictions often.

Although parents often want their teens to get driver's licenses so they can transport themselves to school, work and social activities, parents also worry about the risks. Make sure your home driver education program is complete by using a log to keep track of your teen's progress.

Labels: drivers license, teen driving

Most parents live in dread of the day their teens get a driver's license and get behind the wheel alone. Their concerns are well-founded, since teen drivers have the highest death rates in car crashes of any age group. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among Americans aged 15-20. But parents can help their teens be a safer driver even after they are licensed, particularly by paying attention to common risk factors. In this five-part series, we'll discuss the five worst teen driving mistakes:

-They don't wear safety belts.
-They drink and drive.
-They panic/overcorrect in emergency situations.
-They drive too fast for conditions.
-They ride with other teens.

In this, part three of the series, we'll discuss the difficulty teens have in responding properly to emergency situations. Teens often panic in emergency situations because they have neither the training nor the experience to execute the correct maneuver quickly enough to avoid a crash. They may take no action at all, take too long to react, or overcorrect – which could even make the situation worse.

In a driving emergency, a driver can stop or accelerate, with or without an accompanying turn. Most drivers who act out of panic will simply stop. They may skid to a stop, stop without considering the type of brakes on the vehicle (standard or anti-lock), or slam on the brakes when a more controlled stop is possible. If they try to turn, it is likely to be an uncontrolled turn and is often an overcorrection given the situation. For example, when the right wheels are off the pavement, a panicked driver will quickly yank the steering wheel to the left without slowing down, which could cause a rollover in some vehicles.

Be sure to review the following information with your teen as part of your home driver training program.

Most new vehicles have ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), which allows drivers to stop without skidding. In general, if you need to stop quickly with ABS, press on the brake pedal as hard as you can and keep pressing on it. You might feel the brake pedal pushing back when the ABS is working. Do not let up on the brake pedal. The ABS system will only work with the brake pedal pushed down.

Without ABS, you can cause the vehicle to go into a skid if you brake too hard. Apply the brakes as hard as you can without locking them. If the brakes lock up, you will feel the vehicle start to skid. Quickly let up on the brake pedal. As soon as the vehicle stops skidding, push down on the brake pedal again. Keep doing this until the vehicle has stopped.

In most cases, you can turn the vehicle quicker than you can stop it. You should consider turning in order to avoid a collision. Make sure you have a good grip with both hands on the steering wheel. Once you have turned away or changed lanes, you must be ready to keep the vehicle under control. Some drivers steer away from one collision only to end up in another. Always steer in the direction you want the vehicle to go.

One aspect of having ABS is that you can turn your vehicle while braking without skidding. This is very helpful if you must turn or stop or slow down.

If you do not have ABS, you must use a different procedure to turn quickly. Step on the brake pedal, but then let up and turn the steering wheel. Braking will slow the vehicle some, and it puts more weight on the front tires and this allows for a quicker turn. Do not lock up the front wheels while braking or turn so sharply that the vehicle can only plow ahead.

Another consideration is that generally it is better to run off the road than to crash head-on into another vehicle.

Sometimes it is best or necessary to speed up to avoid a collision. This may happen when another vehicle is about to hit you from the side or from behind and there is room to the front of you to get out of danger. Be sure to slow down once the danger has passed.

Will your teen understand, retain and use the information in the driver handbook, or just memorize enough to pass the test? You can support your teen's learning and retention of the driver handbook with a new driver prep course. Have your teen start with a Free DMV Practice Test today.

Labels: dmv test, drivers license, practice test

Of course, a Florida drug and alcohol course is mandatory; you'll have to take it so you can get your driver's permit. But a certificate isn't the only thing you should take away from the class - the knowledge you gain could one day save your life.

Drinking alcohol and driving gets a lot of attention, both in driver's education courses and in the media, and it should; many teens die in alcohol-related crashes each year. But some teens forget about or ignore the effects of illegal drugs on driving, particularly with drugs that are incorrectly perceived to be harmless, like marijuana. But marijuana, whether used alone or in combination with alcohol, is anything but harmless for any driver.

By far, marijuana remains the most widely used illegal drug among teens. The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Short-term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, difficulty in thinking and problem-solving, loss of coordination, and increased heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks.

After alcohol, marijuana is the substance most frequently found in fatal automobile crashes. Even a moderate dose of marijuana can impair driving performance. Alcohol and marijuana are also often found together, resulting in a dramatic spike in impairment levels and decreased driving performance. The effects of a low dose of marijuana combined with alcohol are much greater than for either drug alone.

Combining any two drugs, or a drug with alcohol, may result in the synergistic effect. This means that the combination of drugs produces effects that are greater than the sum of the effects of the two drugs. This is called an additive effect; instead of a 1 + 1 = 2 result, the synergistic effect may cause a 1 + 1 = 3 result.

Remember, any drug that affects your safe driving can mean a DUI - or worse.

Getting your Florida learner's permit requires certain steps. Here is a useful Learners Permit checklist to get you started.

Labels: drivers license, florida, learners permit