Back to School has a whole new connotation when you consider the teen drivers, student drivers and wanna-be road warriors chafing for wheel independence.
Beginning with a basic understanding of the rules of the road, anti-texting and DUI laws, millions of fifteen year olds are loading up on drivers ed classes in the hopes of achieving a learner’s permit or drivers license.
This year some states have RAISED the drivers license age to 18. Many states have invoked serious GRADUATED Licensing restrictions on new drivers under the age of 18. Along with a minimum mastery of 40 hours behind the wheel, including 10 hours of night time driving skills and some defensive driving techniques,a few states have added minimum school attendence, GPA grades and graduation requirements.
Parents are often guilted into buying a new car or sharing the family wheels in a “coming of age” ritual balancing the need for independence with convenience. In this economy, many parents have said NO to a teen driver’s license, revoking the priviledge until the student can handle the expense; “If you can’t afford the insurance and gas, you can’t drive,” one parent told her teen. “Get a job after school, maintain your grades to a B and save your money for your own car,” Cindy W., a sophomore at Las Vegas High School, repeated her parent’s response to sharing a car. “For now I take the bus because my friend’ who have licenses can’t have anyone under 18 in the car with them. That’s the law.”
Parents also impose the TEEN CONTRACT well before the driver’s ed classes begin, as a means of establishing guidelines and expectations. “I added the rule of not in anyone else’s car and no one else in ours, long before the law was in effect,” said Linda A., mother to a 22yr. old son, ” He wrecked two cars and now understands the value of a drivers license, not to mention, cost of car ownership. He bought his own car after totalling one of ours, and when he crashed his own car and didn’t have enough insurance money to get it fixed, he walked/bussed and bummed rides for a year before he saved enough money for the car and INCREASED insurance premium. It was a humbling experience, and a priceless life lesson.”
As parents and students continue the teen driver student driver debate this school year, many will turn to new car-installed technology, insurance discounts and defensive driving schools to determine the best fit for thier family situation.
When it comes time to buy a student driver a car, most will enlist a service like www.mycarlady.com to find the lowest price, safest car available for their first-time driver.
MyCarlady will continue this series of articles on TEEN driver awareness, so submit this form if you would like to receive the latest articles as they are released.
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