Monthly Archives: August 2014
Parents May Be Distracting Their Teen Drivers
August 12, 2014
Parents may be distracting their teen drivers by calling to check up on them. According to research presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention, more than half of teens responding to a survey said they were on the phone with a parent while driving. Continue Reading
Ask The Driving School Instructor: Most Common Type Of Crash
August 11, 2014
Question: What is the most common cause of car crash?
Answer: It’s hard to nail down one single cause of most car crashes but, since this is a teen blog, I’ll address the types of driving behaviors that I have seen lead to most teen traffic deaths. Continue Reading
Parents Ignore Teen’s Advice Against Texting, Driving High
August 8, 2014
Parents are ignoring their teen’s advice against texting and driving while high. This strange sort of modern day turnaround was revealed in a survey conducted by Liberty Mutual Holding Co. The survey results showed that 42 percent of teens report that they have asked parents to stop texting while driving and 18 percent have complained to their parents about driving while high on marijuana. Continue Reading
Ask The Driving School Instructor: Earplugs
August 4, 2014
Question: Is it illegal to drive with earplugs?
Answer: By earplugs, I’m guessing that you mean some type of earplugs or earbuds connected to an iPod, MP3, or some other type of music player. Whether it’s earplugs for music or earplugs to drown out the noise, the answer is yes; it’s illegal to wear any type of earplugs in both ears while driving. The only type of earplug allowed by law is that for a hearing aid in one ear.
For those blessed with good hearing, your hearing is a very important tool to warn you of dangers on the road. You need to be able to hear if an emergency vehicle is approaching so that you can get out of the way. The sound of screeching tires can alert you to a possible crash. Even the sound of your engine or the hum of your tires can alert you to a possible mechanical problem.
It’s hard enough to hear the sounds of the roadway to begin with. Modern cars have more soundproofing for a quieter ride and we tend to drive with the windows rolled up, the air-conditioner on, and the radio cranked up. That tends to block out all of those important roadway sounds that we need to hear and wearing earplugs just makes it that much more dangerous.
If you’re wondering then, how can deaf people drive? I grew up in the deaf community and was taught to drive – safely – by my deaf father. Drivers who are deaf or hard of hearing are perfectly safe drivers. They aren’t distracted by cell phones, the radio, air-conditioner, etc. and that allows them to pay even more attention to the roadway conditions around them; something every driver should try to do.