AAA offers tips and free teen driving seminars to engage parents and teens

BUFFALO, N.Y., October 14, 2009 – AAA Western and Central New York is recognizing National Teen Driver Safety Week, October 18-24, by offering tips to encourage safe driving and get the conversation between parents and teens started. Compared to adults of their parent’s age, teen drivers are five times more likely to be involved in a fatal automobile crash.

According to a 2008 AAA survey of parents of children ages 12 to 17, there are significant gaps between parental knowledge and behavior pertaining to traffic safety. For example, AAA found that 80 percent of parents surveyed have talked with their children about the dangers of distracted driving, such as cell phone use and text messaging while driving. However, 57 percent of those parents say they use their cell phone at least once a week while operating a motor vehicle and 45 percent of those same parents suspect that their teens are dialing while driving.

“Even if their teen is not driving yet, parents need to make teen driver safety a priority by starting the conversation early and setting a good example,” said Tom Chestnut, President/CEO of AAA Western and Central New York.

To assist parents in talking with their teens about safe driving, AAA is hosting three Teen Driving Seminars:

• AAA Amherst Travel and Insurance Center on November 17th from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
• AAA Penfield Travel and Insurance Center on November 18th from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
• AAA Orchard Park Travel and Insurance Center on November 23rd from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Each seminar is free and open to AAA members and the general public. To register or obtain more information on AAA’s Driving Academy services throughout Western and Central New York, please call 1-800-836-CLUB (2582), log onto www.AAA.com, or visit any AAA Travel and Insurance Center.

AAA experts will be on hand to guide parents and teens through the daunting licensing process, helping them to better understand DMV paperwork, requirements for road testing, and Graduated Driver Licensing laws in NY State. Driver training and education, driver distractions, rules of the road, and insurance requirements for new teens will also be addressed.

AAA also offers the following tips for parents of teens to get the conversation started:

• Talk to younger teens about being a safe, responsible passenger - Teens should know to wear a seat belt, to refrain from distracting the driver by talking, loud music, or horseplay, and to speak up if the driver is being unsafe.
• Discuss the rules early on, including the importance of seat belts and avoidance of drunk and distracted driving. As teens get older, they become increasingly mobile and their exposure to dangerous conditions increases.
• Eliminate the distractions – Cell phones and text messaging have rightly received significant media and legislative attention as hazardous distractions for teen drivers. With surveys reporting widespread use of distracting technology by teen drivers, parents should make it a strict rule in their households.
• Be a positive and responsible role model behind the wheel – Teenagers learn from their parents’ behavior and are influenced by their actions behind the wheel. Avoid distractions and always stay calm and focused on driving safely.
• Conduct supervised driving practice and review with your teen – Supervised driving sessions with parents provide teens with opportunities to enhance learning, reinforce proper driving techniques and skills, and receive constructive feedback from the people that care most about their safety and success.
• Know the Graduated Driver License (GDL) law – Recently signed New York State legislation, effective in early 2010, enhances the current GDL law by banning teens from using any portable electronic devices – hand-held or otherwise, reduces the number of non-family passengers to one, and increases mandatory in-car practice from 20-50 hours of certified, supervised driving, with at least 15 hours being at night. Under the new law, teens under the age of 18 will also be required to hold a learner’s permit for six months before they can obtain a junior license. Parents should look to state graduated driver licensing programs as the minimum requirements they should be enforcing.
• Establish a parent-teen driving agreement – Having rules, conditions, restrictions and consequences of teens’ driving written down in advance establishes driving as a privilege and not something to be taken lightly or for granted. Consequences should be enforced and conversely, proper driving behavior should be rewarded with additional liberties. AAA offers parent-teen driving agreements at www.AAA.com.
• Consider formal driver education – Driving is a risky activity for teens and warrants professional instruction. Driving schools that feature cutting-edge curriculums, high degrees of interaction and professionally-trained instructors are suggested. AAA’s Driving Academy offers all of these components and features the innovative Licensed to Learn curriculum that surpasses minimum New York State requirements and involves parents in the program.

“AAA recognizes the challenges families may face as they welcome a new driver, and we are committed to offering guidance and valuable resources to assist teen drivers to become safe drivers,” said Chestnut.

Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death among teens, killing more than 5,000 teens each year. In addition, more than 500,000 teens are treated in emergency departments annually for motor vehicle-related injuries. National Teen Driver Safety Week was established by Congress in 2007 to focus attention on the nation’s epidemic of teen car crashes and to find solutions.

As Upstate New York’s largest member services organization, AAA provides nearly 880,000 members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive related services. Since its founding in 1900, AAA has been a leading advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. Visit AAA at www.AAA.com.