4 Steps Your Teen Should Take Before You Add Them To Your Car Insurance
When your teenager nears sixteen, you may be nervous about letting them get behind the wheel of your car. However, there are things that you can do to set your mind at ease and help ensure your teenager stays safe on the road. Be sure to take the following steps before adding your teenager to your car insurance and letting them drive your car by themselves.
Step #1: Take a Driver's Education Course
As a parent, you may be able to pass on a lot of knowledge about local driving rules and the choices you make to stay safe on the road. However, no parental instruction is a proper substitute for a driver's education course. Your teenager's school may offer this course, or you can enroll your teenager in a local driving school. This is typically done after your teenager at least attains their driver's permit, which can be obtained through passing a written test and is available a year before they are eligible for the actual driver's license test.
Step #2: Practice Driving for a Set Number of Hours
You should supervise your teenager's driving as often as possible. A good way to do this is to require that a teenager practice a set number of hours with a driving instructor each week. For example, you may require 60 hours of instructor-supervised driving, and you may tag along for these sessions with a local driving instructor as well. You will be able to judge whether your teenager is making adequate progress and becoming a good driver.
Step #3: Require a Teenager to Sign a Driving Pact with You
This may sound a bit much at first, but it is a great tool to ensure that your teen stays safe on the road. It spells out exactly what is expected of your teenager and what the consequences will be when they do not comply with the rules that you set. For example, you may declare that there is a zero-tolerance policy for texting and driving. While the laws of your state may be very lenient when it comes to texting and driving, your strict rules can be a stronger motivation for your teen to avoid that deadly practice. After all, distracted driving causes 18 percent of crashes when injuries are involved, so you may be saving your teen's life by setting high standards.
Finally, keep in mind that making sure that your teen is truly ready for safe driving is the best path to take. When your teenager has shown that they are prepared to take the responsibility of driving seriously, you can give them a set of keys to your car and add them to your insurance. This is a privilege, not a right, and your teen should take it as seriously as you do. For more informaiton, contact a business such as Red Oak Insurance Agency.
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