Tips on Teen Driving for Seattle Parents

Free Case Evaluation

Seeing your teen get behind the wheel of a car for the first time can be a nerve-wracking experience. To help quell your fears and help your teen learn how to drive safely, here’s a list of tips on teen driving.

Lead by Example

While it can be difficult—after all, you’ve been driving for years and have established driving habits— to match your behavior to what the driving manual teaches your kid.

Focus first on these basic skills that you may not think about anymore.

  • Go the speed limit
  • Use your turn signal every time
  • Keep your hands at ten and two
  • Ignore distractions like a ringing phone
  • Control road rage
  • Exercising patience: let other cars merge at driveways
  • Leave adequate following distance

 

Because teens often learn directly from their parents, your behavior behind the wheel could have a great effect on theirs.

Set Some Boundaries

If your teen just got his or her license, there’s no doubt that he or she is pretty excited about this newfound freedom and driving ability.

However, setting some boundaries as a parent of a new teen driver is critical to safety.

  • Insist that the cell phone is stored away when behind the wheel: texting and driving facts show that 20 percent of teens admit to multi-message texting while driving
  • Limit the amount of passengers allowed in the car
  • Emphasize the importance of wearing a seatbelt
  • Have a conversation about reasonable driving hours

Be Patient and Positive

Learning to drive for the first time is a fun experience for most teens, but it can also be a stressful one too. What won’t help is anxiety, tension, or negative energy from you over your teen’s driving errors.

Instead, be patient with your teen and gently explain mistakes and how they could make improvements. Focusing on the positive aspects of their driving behavior is also important. Also, make sure that you and your teen are practicing in a safe place that isn’t highly trafficked, such as an empty parking lot. Never take a teen to the open road before s/he is ready.

Secure a Seattle Car Accident Lawyer if Your Teen Driver is in a Crash

The team at Max Meyers Law PLLC 425-399-7000 could represent you if your teenaged driver were in a car accident, either while learning or after receiving a license. Accidents happen, and we will do our best to take care of things quickly and efficiently. Fill out our contact form for a quick reply.

Max Meyers
Connect with me
Max is a Kirkland personal injury attorney handling cases in Seattle, King County & surrounding in WA State.