New Driver Challenge Parent Introduction

Now that you've given control to them, how do you fight these tendencies?  The answer is to replace the control you have lost with influence.  In the same way that their friends may try to influence them to break the rules, you need to influence them to abide by them.  And do it with intention, example, and saturation.  The New Driver Challenge gives you everything you need to meet these three necessities.  The Challenge provides an interactive tool you can use to remind them of the importance of the task of safe driving.  And parents who keep them engaged are saturating them with safe driving best practices.  Otherwise, you must hope that telling them to "be careful" is enough.  Every parent of every teen who didn't return home told their teens to "be careful."

Every year, between 2000 and 3000 teens between 16 and 19 die in crashes.   Thousands more sustain life-changing injuries or are responsible for the injuries of others.  These statistics don't show a lot of distinction among any of the groupings.  These numbers make it unreasonable to think the additional effort of a program like this is unnecessary.  The simple truth is that the numbers simply don't matter if the one hurt or killed is your loved one, and the diversity of the injured or killed proves no one is exempt.

A simple internet search for "teens crash fatal" will return pages of recent events nationwide.  Reading the details reveals a litany of familiar causes related to speed, distraction, and impairment.  Each of these topics is covered in detail during the license training.  Still, once they are in control without you by their side, they forget. Some young adults, perhaps yours, can be spared because a responsible parent makes an effort to keep them engaged in post-licensing learning.

Dedicated professionals lead your teen's training.  Often, they are already professional teachers with full-time class loads.  They study teaching and traffic safety to teach your young adults the best instruction possible.  Additionally, numerous traffic safety organizations are working to develop more effective teaching tools utilizing new technology. 

Meanwhile, the required hours of training in most states have remained relatively unchanged for decades.  In those same decades, simple two-lane roadways have become a rarity, and multi-lane highways and parkways are the norm.  Average posted limits have increased, and per-capita enforcement has decreased.  Finally, there is a trend toward more aggressive and higher-speed driving.  Traffic casualties are rising at alarming rates across all age groups. So, you and your teens must be reminded of the urgency of intentional risk avoidance, okay? Traffic safety-focused organizations agree that parental engagement after teens get their licenses is critical to keeping them safe.  We have developed this tool to facilitate that engagement.

The strength of the New Driver Challenge lies in its focus on Risk Neutralization, as opposed to crash avoidance or defensive driving.  The articles focus on practical ways to assess and avoid risky situations by intentionally developing risk-avoidance habits.  We don't want your family to be able to stop in time; we want them to avoid situations that require sudden braking.  The difference is subtle, and the resulting competence is extraordinary.

For your teen, the training they just completed was a requirement to obtain their license.  They focused more on completing tests than learning the finer details of being an expert safe driver.  The brevity of the training cycle and the naivety that accompanies youth leave them more vulnerable than we care to acknowledge.

For these reasons, you need to continue the training now that they have their license.  As they drive independently, they begin to develop their own styles.  Hopefully, they begin to grasp the enormity of their new responsibility.  At the same time, they are creating habits, and not all are good.  As they become more comfortable driving independently, they often become complacent.   The following is a Facebook post from a Minnesota police department.

"13 DAYS...that's how long a 16-year-old had his license before he decided to drive 116 

mph with three other juvenile passengers tonight. 

Thankfully, one of our officers was able to stop this vehicle before it turned deadly! 

Please talk to your kids about driving behaviors so we don't have to."

Reading the Challenge articles with your teen will enable you to address the impulses behind high-risk behaviors and the associated costs.  No child, not even yours, is immune to impulse behaviors that lead to terrible crashes. 

The GAAP Safety New Driver Challenge series focuses on developing great driving habits.  Furthermore, the articles offer practical exercises for you and your teen to challenge each other and work together to improve.  By the way, doing them together may mean you have to change some of your habits.  Because “do as I say, not as I do” rings hollow with them.

While we wish we could wave a magic wand to guarantee your teens' absolute safety, we recognize that the privilege of driving comes with inherent risks.  As you read the articles with them, you’ll see that we focus on a concept called “RISK NEUTRALIZATION.”  Our system is not designed to avoid collisions.  Our system is about avoiding risk.  And if your teen driver can learn to recognize and avoid risk, their safety becomes less a matter of magic and more a matter of control.

GAAP Safety disclaims any liability arising from the materials on this website.  The purpose of this material is to provide guidance and promote conversation on traffic safety for families.  Many factors influence driving safety, and we have no control over how our audience uses our recommended practices or other factors that may contribute to a traffic-related tragedy.

HOW TO USE THESE ARTICLES

The Challenge series articles are intended to be read in three to five minutes each and no more than one on any given day.  Each one explains concepts in safe driving as they relate to the GAAP Safety acronym.

Gentleness

Awareness

Anticipation

Position

While each characteristic described in the acronym is essential, Gentleness is “over-arching,” meaning it wraps, guides, and facilitates others.  These articles convey a great deal of common sense and provide objective methods for applying that common sense in specific practices.   

In the first article, we challenge your new driver to consider places to practice gentleness apart from driving.  Simple things, such as closing doors gently, stepping lightly, and speaking a bit more quietly, help develop gentleness as a lifestyle.  It easily translates to the driving task when it's designed as a lifestyle.  If your young adult regularly exhibits fits of anger with threats and screaming, they probably shouldn't be driving.  Uncontrolled emotions are a known contributor to major traffic incidents.  Practicing gentleness fosters self-control, which is essential for safe driving.

This series aims to keep your young adult driver thinking about driving safety during a period when they are most likely to be in a collision.  Keeping them engaged in reading this material regularly for a period of three to four months will increase the impact.   Three to four thought questions have been written to support multiple readings of each article.  A report page is available when you are logged in to view their responses. This system provides two-way accountability between you and your teen.  This puts you and your young adult driver on an equal footing and opens the door to better communication.  We also recommend that driving privileges be tied to participating in the program.  You need to decide on a reading plan with them and participate equally.  There are several ways to approach the series.  Here are some Ideas

1.   Read the entire series over a period of 20 - 30 days, answering one survey question for each.  Follow this by rereading the whole series and answering a different question.  Continue repeating until all questions have been answered.

2.   Read each article two to four times over the same number of days, answering one survey question each time.

3.   Have a regularly scheduled time to read and discuss an article together.  

Each article includes a link to the question form, which allows you to share answers with your young adult.  Recent answers among all family members can be viewed each time a user logs in.  Reading and answering the questions will be very helpful, but please don't forget to use the material to generate conversation.  In fact, we recommend even a bit of competition between adults and teens to evaluate each other in practicing the methods.  This means that you, as a parent, need to be open and vulnerable to having your teen critique your driving.  Those of us who have been driving for many years tend to be defensive and convinced that we are beyond improvement.  We encourage everyone to set defensiveness aside and be open and teachable.

Be ready to encounter some resistance from them.  In their mind, with the license in hand, training is over, and it’s time to party.  If you agree that these concepts are valuable and will enhance their safety, then you need to exercise resolve in a plan to implement them.  We recommend that you have an understanding before taking the license test that participating in this “continuing education” will be part of maintaining your driving privilege.  And whatever plan you agree on, be the parent and stick to it!

We also urge you to review and sign the Parent-Teen Driving Agreement linked under "Promises Promises..."  The statements of the agreement are all supported in the Challenge articles.  Set a regular time each week to have them re-read it with you.

Schedule time on the calendar and make these discussions a priority.  This is part of doing everything you can to keep them safe.  You need to understand that every parent who has suffered through a critical teen crash thought they had done everything they could do.  The Challenge series is another tool in your arsenal to mitigate the risks your new driver will encounter while driving independently.  

Agree with your young adult driver that you will observe just one or two habits each time you drive with them. Avoid voicing criticism while the drive is underway. This prevents the inevitable argument or self-justification that often follows criticism.  Instead, the observer should note one or two instances of the specific habit.  By the way, it’d be really great if you made more positive observations than negative ones.  The observations should only be shared when the drive is complete or when you're not actually in traffic, such as in a parking lot.  When it's time to share your observations, treat them as you would a co-worker or someone with whom you have a supportive relationship.  Avoid using accusatory language.  Start the conversation with "I'd like to share a couple of observations with you and see if you agree with me" or something equally respectful.

Resist engaging in an argument.  Accept your teen’s response if they disagree with your critique.  Say that you hope they’ll consider it further.  Let them know that you’re open to discussing again later.  This approach, of course, assumes you are not observing flagrant safety violations that must be addressed.  In those cases, you must be resolute and not afraid to insist on their agreement.  Never have arguments while the car is in motion!

One final recommendation.  Ensure you are familiar with your state's graduated driving privilege rules and enforce them accordingly.  You can find the rules for your state here. Please make sure that your young adult driver knows and follows these rules, both as a driver and a passenger with their friends.

HOW TO ADDRESS DISAGREEMENTS AND ERRORS.

The granting of a driver's license is a significant step in your teenager's transition into adulthood.  With the license, they may have expectations of relaxed supervision and control on your part.  These expectations may lead to tense arguments.  In all of these conversations, you must be able to help them understand your intent.  This isn’t easy when the conversation is heated.  You, the parent, must have a strategy to control the thermostat.

The video linked here is an excellent resource to watch and consider when managing difficulties with your young adult driver.  We recommend viewing it multiple times and deciding how you can make your approach to difficult times with them more productive.

FINAL THOUGHTS FROM GAAP SAFETY

GAAP Safety was founded to contribute to the efforts underway by numerous private and governmental agencies to reduce the incidence of traffic-related casualties among our precious young adult population.  Our lead author knows personally the debilitating pain of the loss of a child.  It is our corporate mission to reduce these occurrences through this continuing education.  We have specifically developed our resources for use by parents alongside and after their teens' required training.  

We sincerely hope you will use these articles to guide your newly licensed teen to a lifetime of driving safety.  Please feel free to contact us at info@gaapsafety.com with your comments and questions.  

Below are buttons to register your family team and/or view a sample of the articles included in the New Driver Challenge.