Driving Tips for Your Newly Licensed Teen Driver

One of the most exciting times in your teen's life is when they get their license, but that same feeling of excitement isn't always shared by the parents. Knowing that your teen will be traveling the roadways can cause a parent to experience a lot of anxiety, and it can be pretty stressful. For this reason, it is important that your teen learns some important driving tips to help keep them safe.

A Few General Driving Tips

There are a few more generalized driving tips; we should all follow when practicing safe driving. These tips include always obeying the speed limits, always wearing your seatbelt, and always making sure that the windshield is clean.

In addition, you should also adjust the car's headrest, so it sits behind your head rather than your neck. This could help prevent whiplash if there was an accident.

Be Considerate

You also need to teach your teen to be considerate of other drivers. Never drive like you own the road, or you are the only one on the road. You should also never make assumptions about what other drivers are going to do and keep an eye out for aggressive drivers.

Aggressive driving is one of the leading causes of auto accidents, and this is especially true on highways where the speeds are much greater.

Be Aware

Having a constant awareness of what is going on is also important for safe driving. This also includes making sure that there is plenty of gas in the car. Eyes should also be on the road watching for deer and other animals that may be crossing.

When the light turns green at the intersection, it is also important to teach your teen to pause and look both ways before going. Just because the light turns green doesn’t mean it is safe to immediately enter the intersection.

Bad Weather Driving

Even more experienced adults get anxious when driving in less than desirable weather conditions, so how do you think your teen will feel when it comes time for them to do the same? Instruct your teen that if there is bad weather, try to avoid driving in it if possible. But if it is unavoidable, it is helpful to know a few of these tips.

For heavy rain, make sure your windshield wipers are on as well as your headlights. This will help increase your visibility so other drivers can see you better. You also want to allow for a much lengthier traveling distance during rain because it will take more time for you to stop safely.

If it is raining so hard that visibility is seriously impaired, then you should pull over to the side of the road safely until the heavy rain passes. You should also never use cruise control in heavy rain conditions and when it is slippery. It can cause the wheels to slip.

Final Thoughts

While it is stressful watching your teen back out of the driveway for the first time as a newly licensed driver, as a parent, you can instill a few helpful, safe driving tips to help keep them safe.

One of the biggest things, however, to teach your teen is to keep their cell phone out of their hand. They should never use their phone while driving and should do their best to avoid any and all other distractions.