Safe Driving Tips For Teenage Drivers

There is not a day when a teenager has not lost his or her life in a car accident. Did you know that teenagers end up in car accidents, four times more than any other age segment? Ever wondered why? There could be a plethora of reasons – it could be because they are reckless, because they are not adhering to traffic rules and regulations, because they are unaware of safety driving tips, or they are least bothered of their lives and also of other road-users. It could be all.

Since these teenagers would have been recently initiated into car driving, the first thing they do is rev up the engine. Speed thrills. And with friends in tow, they are speed racing, drinking and driving, and just about having fun, thus increasing the risk not only to their lives, but also other road users.

Some of these accidents can be easily avoided, if teenagers followed simple safety aspects and adhered to traffic rules. Wearing seat belt is so so important and it has helped avoid fatalities on many an occasion.

There are many approaches to help teenagers to be in control of the car, responsibly. The first point of contact is their parents who invariably hand over the car keys to them (yes some of them take the cars out without their parents knowing it) and it is for the parents to list out the ‘dos and donts’, highlighting how accidents can be fatal and how they could disrupt their lives. Parents should start thinking of buying cars with airbags or retrofit their cars with them. And they should tell their teenage kids that just because there is an airbag it does not mean that they need to overspeed, drive recklessly…

While education begins at home, there certainly is the need for the licensing authorities and the traffic police to have campaigns on safe driving. Issuing licenses and imposing penalties are part of the system, but what is needed is constant campaigns on good driving habits, not just for teenagers but all sections of the society. Responsible driving is what is needed and it certainly will bring down the rate of accidents.

Yes, there are road signs saying ‘Speed Thrills, but Kills’; ‘Drinking Kills Driving Skills’ and the sort, but it is time to go beyond the signs and have concerted campaigns for which we as a group are ready to participate.