How to drop crash rates among teens by 90 percent.....

I was reading an article in the Homeschool Court Report and the article reads in part:

That the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that research has identified factors contributing to teen crashes. The top two are inexperience and immaturity..."A study of issues affecting young drivers, released in December 2000 by George Mason University and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, identified parental involvement as the most important factor in teaching teens safe driving behaviors," says HSLDA Senior Council Christopher Klicka.

In September 2006 the Insurance Institute for Highway safety's Status Report advised Americans that traditional driver's education does not provide the intended benefits of producing a safer driver. This report suggests that the way to lower crash potential is to gradually release young drivers as they demonstrate maturity and skill, while simultaneously using parents to train and monitor them during this process.

Wayne Tully, executive director of the National Driving Training Institute (NDTI) said, "Since the very beginning of driver's education training in 1949, the standard has been 30 hours of classroom and 6 hours behind the wheel. Those were arbitrary numbers and to this day have never worked."

Tully says, "The only thing that has reduced crash fatalities in this county is parental involvement." When driver's ed is conducted in a homeschool setting the crash rates among teens taught in these courses have dropped over 90 percent. The comprehension level is over 91 percent for the classroom component of the NDTI program. (The rate of comprehension for traditional driver's ed is below 15 percent.)

Shirley Buck, a Virginia mother who recently taught her 17 year old son, Jonathan, to drive says, "I think as parents doing the teaching, you're more cautious and focused, and provide a lot more feedback because you"re concerned for your children's safety--not just for that moment in the car, but for a lifetime of safe driving habits."

Jonathan agrees: Parents care more--to teach you, to make sure you understand everything completely before you go out on the road. They are going to be more in-depth and give more time to the process, rather than the set amount of time the driver's ed people would give you."

For parents considering teaching their own children to drive, Tully advises, "Mom and Dad, you can't possibly know what your children don't know until you know what they're supposed to know. Once you have the big picture of what the kids are supposed to be learning, then together you can begin to figure out what they've missed. It's what they missed that will take life from us."

"Parents need to be involved from beginning to end in order to set up their teens for success," Tully added.

Insurance company statistics show that out of every 100 teen drivers:
37 will be ticketed for speeding
28 will be involved in accidents, and
13 will be injured in an automobile accident. *

IN 2000, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs conducted a survey that found that for every 100 students using a parent-taught driver's ed program:
8 were ticketed for speeding
8 were involved in acidents, and
6 were injured in automobile accidents. *


* National Driver Training Institute, www.usdrivertraining.com/forum/wordpress/?p=117.

There are lots of programs available-like DriverEd.com, VirtualDriveofAmerica.com, Driver Ed in a box (driveredtraining.com) and of course, NDTI (usdrivertraining.com)

Charity Corkey wrote the article. You can check it out at their website at www.hslda.org

Buckle up !

I read an article several months ago and it discussed the fact that the more people in a car with new drivers, the more likely they are to be in an accident. It's a lack of concentration for the driver, and not focusing on the road itself. They recommend that young drivers only allow one passenger and that parents make this a rule with their children.

I don't know if that would help?

Just an observation.

nascargirl

I believe experience and maturity are key; I've been teaching my daughter to drive for 3 years and I won't allow her to get her license until she is 17. I'm pleased that they passed the current law. Cell phones and passengers are a distraction, expecially for teens.