Parenting style important to safe teen driving

William Atkins
Tuesday, 29 September 2009 19:24

Science - Health

Dr. Flaura Koplin Winston, one of the authors of the study, stated in the ABC article: "Part of the very nature of being the primary driver of a vehicle is the impression that no one is keeping track of what you are doing as closely.”

Dr. Winston, the co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), added, “But if a parent has to hand you the keys and asks, 'where are you going and who with,' that is crucial to the safety of early, inexperienced drivers."

The ABC article states that car accidents are “… the leading cause of death in 16- to 17-year-olds, claiming over 1,800 lives and injuring over 166,000 each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Dr. Winston, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, also commented on what she and her fellow-researchers learned about teenagers and their behaviors.

She stated, "A lot of things teens recognize already. They get that cell phones can increase risk. They get that passengers acting wild increases risk…. But they didn't recognize the role of inexperience. They pretty much thought that if they have a license, that means they are experienced."

In another study performed in 2007, and written up in the 7/13/2007 USA Today article "Many teens admit risky driving habits " found that "Teen drivers admit that they're prone to text messaging, talking on cellphones and hauling their friends around in the car."

The survery by the American Automotive Association (AAA) and Seventeen magazine concluded that, of the one thousand teenagers taking part of the April 2007 survey: "... young drivers engage in risky behavior behind the wheel, prompting safety advocates to call for parents to be more aware of what their kids are doing when they leave with the car keys."