Turning 16 and getting one’s license is an exciting time in any teenager’s life. After all, the ability to get a license is something that opens the door to an entire world of possibilities. When you’re able to drive, you have so much more freedom – or at least so many teenagers feel. But if you are the parent of a teenaged child, keeping them safe will need to be a top priority. For many people, this can be a frightening prospect indeed.
And some of these fears are more than founded, backed up by the statistics surrounding driving among teenagers. For one thing, teenagers are considerably more likely to be involved in some type of accident. Unfortunately, teens who fall between the ages of 16 and 19 actually have a fatality rate that is up to four times the fatality rate of drivers who fall between the ages of those who fall between the ages of 25 and 69. In addition to this, teens in their first year of driving with a license are actually up to ten times more likely to be in some type of accident, be it minor or much more severe, over the course of this year than in comparison to more experienced drivers who have been on the road for longer periods of time.
There are a number of factors that play into these statistics – as well as a number of ways to prevent them. For instance, teaching your children to drive safely and engage in good safety habits is a must, especially when you consider the fact that more than half of all teens in this country (actually up to 56% of them, to be just a bit more exact) actually rely on their parents to learn how to drive in the first place. But as a parent, you should consider other options for teaching your kids how to safely navigate the road.
Drivers ed classes are a great way for kids to learn to drive, as they will get both traffic lessons as well as the chance to practice driving in the real world. Drivers ed classes can teach the things that parents might have forgotten to, and drivers ed classes and professional driving lessons in general will help to ensure that your child is safe and ready for the responsibility by the time that they get behind the wheel of a car. And drivers ed classes can be pursued in a number of different places.
For instance, it is common to take drivers ed classes as a part of your schooling, with many high schools throughout the country offering drivers ed classes in at least some capacity. For many students, this is the easiest way, as they do not have to spend their time outside of school on the matters of drivers ed and in their drivers ed classes.
Of course, you can pursue drivers ed classes outside of the school environment as well, which can be ideal for students who are already taking a full course load, as is the case for many and can happen for a wide range of reasons. If your child isn’t taking drivers ed classes during the school year, you might instead choose to sign them up for private drivers training, which is also a possibility in a great many places. Driving schools can be found all throughout the country, and these institutions not only teach teen drivers, but older people as well, perhaps those who have never learned to drive before this point in their life.
Letting your teen get behind the wheel of a car, especially if you look at the statistics. After all, more than 30% of all teen drivers do not wear their seat belt on a regular basis. Fortunately, enrolling them in drivers ed classes can help to ensure that they will be as safe on the road as possible, and can also impart with them the knowledge that they need to drive in a cautious way – and why this is such an important thing. Even private driving schools can be a great alternative to the drivers ed classes held by schools (typically high schools, of course).