Loud And Rowdy Passenger Behavior Most Dangerous For Newly Licensed Drivers
April 24, 2014
A newly released study in the Journal of Adolescent Health points to loud teen passengers as one of the most dangerous factors leading to crashes among newly licensed teen drivers. The study, conducted by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, used video cameras to record driving situations allowing them to measure distracting events more reliably. Unlike events that the driver can control, such as texting and phone use, the loud and rowdy behavior of passengers is an uncontrollable factor that can be an even greater distraction for new teen drivers. Read more: New Study Identifies Loud Conversations Among Passengers as the Most Likely Distraction for Newly Licensed Adolescent Drivers
Ask The Driving School Instructor: In Florida, can you drive at night with a learner’s permit?
April 21, 2014
Question: Can you drive at night with a learner’s permit in Florida?
Answer: Under Florida law, a driver with a learner’s permit is restricted to daylight driving only for the first three months after receiving their learner’s permit. After the first three month period, you should start to practice driving at night. In fact, your parent or guardian must certify that you have had at least ten hours of supervised driving experience at night but you must receive that training before 10:00 at night. A driver with a learner’s permit is not allowed to drive under any circumstances between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Study: Parents Don’t Devote Enough Time To Driving Instruction
April 18, 2014
One of the major problems with the US system of training teens to drive is that parents don’t have the training they need to properly train their teens to drive. While driving may be second nature to parents, it’s all new to the teen and with the teen at the wheel, parents miss out on a lot of “teachable moments.”
Researchers at the Highway Safety Research Centre at the University of North Carolina installed video cameras to see how much time parents actually devoted to driving instructions when teaching their teens to drive. The videos showed that parents spend more time on rudimentary vehicle handling techniques and not enough time on “higher order” techniques that will teach the teen to anticipate and plan for possible hazards ahead. Read more: Parents’ driving instruction often superficial
Parents Notified When Teen Is Pulled Over By Police
April 16, 2014
A statewide program in Michigan notifies parents if their teen (ages 16-21) is pulled over and stopped by law enforcement. Once registered, parents receive a sticker that is placed on the vehicle’s window. If their teen is stopped, the parents will receive a text or email notifying them of the event. So far, Michigan is the only state to have this program but it sounds like a good idea to take nationally. Read more: STOPPED ‘puts parents back in the car
Ask The Driving School Instructor: Will New Laws Be On The Driving Test?
April 14, 2014
Question: I heard that there are some new driving laws that were passed in Florida this year. Will those they be on my driving test?
Answer: The Florida legislature has considered some changes to the driving laws this year but none of them are laws yet. If they pass the legislature and are signed into law by the governor, the laws probably won’t take effect until July 1st at the earliest. Some will go into effect on Oct. 1st and some on January 1st of next year.
Your written driving test will be based on information in the Florida Driver Handbook and the latest version of that handbook was published in 2014. If you notice, at the beginning of the handbook, there is a section called “Important Law Changes”. That section will have all the new laws that have gone into effect as of the date the handbook was written.
You’ll only be tested on the information that is currently in the handbook and not on any laws that may have been passed since then. Of course, if you go to take your behind-the-wheel driving test, you should be aware of any new laws that may have gone into effect and, even if a law, such as the new law against texting and driving, isn’t mentioned in the manual, it’s a good idea to obey it.