Tips for Parents to share with Teens

State Farm has prepared a list of things to talk about with your teen to cut down on their chances of being involved in a dangerous crash.

Make sure your teen and their passengers always wear their seatbelts.

Make sure they stick to the speed limit.

Never allow driving under the influence.

Limit their nighttime driving.

Limit exposure to driving in bad weather, congested traffic, and similar situations as these can be difficult for inexperienced drivers.

When you have teen passengers in your vehicle, be a role model and demonstrate good driving habits yourself.

Teach your new driver the two second rule for following another vehicle. When the car ahead passes a stripe on the road or another stationary object, your teen should be able to count to two or higher before passing that same object.

Inform teens about the dangers of distractions (reaching for something while driving, looking for vehicle controls, rowdy passengers, playing with radios or phones, etc.)

Place limits on the number of passengers they can have. State Farm recommends that new drivers avoid having any teen passengers during their first year of driving.

Teach your teen the two second rule…when the car ahead of them passes a sign on the road or another stationary object, they should be able to count to two before they pass that same object…

Adopt a parent-teen contract which clearly describes these expectations and the consequences of not following them

Give your teen a code word, that way, they can signal to you to come and pick them up if they ever get into an awkward situation and don’t want to explain it in front of their friends.

Please talk with your teen and their friends about their driving.