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Parents have all the right reasons for worrying about their teenage kids’ safety when they begin driving. Studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shed light on drivers being involved in car crash risks between the ages of 16 to 19 years than drivers of any other age group.
The organization also found that the people belonging to this age group have the likelihood of being involved in a fatal car accident three times more than drivers who are 21 years and older. Now that your child is driving and the soaring accident injuries and death rates in Washington worry you, it becomes essential to make your child aware of some safe driving tips. You’d never want to hear that but if your child is involved in an accident, and has suffered fatal injuries, then contacting a car accident attorney is the best thing you can do.
If not, you always have the option of protecting your child by enlightening him/her of the safety measures during a car accident. Take some steps if you’re a new driver’s parent to make sure of your teenager’s safety. These are:
Pick a Safe Car:
Ensure choosing a safe car for your teenage kid- the one that’s easy to drive and has the capability of protecting him/her during a car crash. As a cautious parent, you should dwell in an apt research process of choosing a safe car. For instance, the experts recommend avoiding small vehicles and the ones with high-performance images. It is because these give room to recklessness and encourage speed.
Teach your teen the Law:
The government generally imposes certain restrictions on teenagers when they’re learning to drive. They do so to protect children from mishappenings. Let your child know the significant losses and injuries, which he/she is most likely to suffer. The tenacious car accident attorneys emphasize the repercussions that teenagers suffer and how they are known to have long-lasting effects for the rest of their lives.
Although, the law can never make up for these losses and injuries and there is nothing that can get you out of the pain. But, the law compensates you for the damages in the form of money. In addition to enlightening yourself and your teenagers of the law, there are some things that you can teach your child. These are:
- Never tell your child that no one follows the road laws.
- Ensure your child wears a seat belt at all times.
- Do not allow more than one passenger who’s younger than 21 years of age when your child is driving. The immediate family members find an exception in this case.
- Your child must never use a mobile phone.
Model driving behavior:
You should begin teaching your child to become a safe driver when your child’s car seat turns from rear-facing to front-facing. Know that children are excellent observant and young minds have the ability to grasp good driving behaviors with complete ease.
The few lectures you give before your child sits on the driver’s seat can never replace the years they’ve watched their parents eat, check emails, text, or act aggressively while driving. Thus, always know that you’re a role model for your child. So, show them how you check the best route directions to work with your phone before starting the engine and other safe driving practices.
Rather, you should invite your kids to hold you accountable for being a safe driver. Let your children take up the vital tasks on your phone while you’re driving so that they can watch you focusing solely on the road.
- Enroll your teen in a driving program:
See if your insurance company offers you a program known as a safe driver. The teenagers participating in these programs have to sign a parent-teen contract, which signifies the responsibilities of the teenager as a young driver. Some of these include not having teen passengers in the car, getting back home by a certain hour, and others. The contract also states the consequences when the child fails to obey those expectations.
Let your child know the privileges of completing the program, such as discounts. Doing so will enable your child to become a safe driver. The government too plays a pivotal role in reducing teen driver accidents by subsidizing electronic devices like video cameras and GPS systems. The attorneys and other organizations are all thumbs up for such devices since they alert the parents of reckless driving via message, phone, or email.
Enrich your teenager’s knowledge base and don’t stake your kids
You won’t be too happy to know that there’s no way to guarantee that your child will never be involved in an accident when he/she is returning home from school. If you think that the cause of the accident is some other person’s negligence, then contacting Washington car accident attorneys is the best thing you can do. These attorneys provide top-notch legal assistance by reviewing your situation and determining the best course of action.
