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Teens
Not Exposed to
Diverse Driving
Experience Prior to
Licensing
AAA Foundation Study
Washington, D.C.—In
advance of National
Teen Driver Safety
Week (October 17-23),
today the
AAA Foundation for
Traffic Safety
released the first
naturalistic study
using in-vehicle
cameras to capture
teenage drivers and
their parents during
their supervised
driving phase. Nearly
half (47 percent) of
parents in the study
reported that after
the year-long
learner’s stage,
there was still at
least one condition
in which they did not
feel comfortable
letting their teen
drive. Yet, more than
one-third (37
percent) of these
families allowed
their teen to obtain
a license within a
month of being
eligible, although a
few families
restricted driving in
certain scenarios.
The average amount of
weekly driving varied
greatly among
families, ranging
from just twenty
minutes to almost
five hours the study
found. Sixty-eight
percent of parents
reported that
opportunities to
drive together were
limited by busy
schedules of both
parents and teens.
Teens averaged just
over an hour and a
half of supervised
driving per week,
mostly on routine
trips along the same
routes. Meaning, few
teens gained
significant
experience in more
challenging
situations, such as
driving in inclement
weather or in heavy
traffic. After a full
year of driving:
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One in three
parents said they
still didn’t
consider their teen
ready to drive
unsupervised in
heavy traffic or on
the highway.
-
One in five didn’t
think their teen
was ready to drive
unsupervised in the
rain.
“Driving in a variety
of settings is the
best way to build
competence; starting
early and practicing
often can make the
crucial difference
between being a
tentative novice
driver or one capable
of handling
challenging and
unavoidable driving
scenarios,” said AAA
Foundation President
and CEO
Peter Kissinger.
“Until now, there’s
been almost no
scientific research
on what parents
actually do while
supervising their
teens’ driving. This
study reinforces that
parents are ideally
positioned to assess
their teen’s early
driving ability and
provide invaluable
training and guidance
during this critical
time.”
Motor vehicle crashes
are the leading cause
of death for
teenagers in this
country. The first
few years of
unsupervised driving
are the most
dangerous – 1,368
U.S. teen drivers age
15-18 died in traffic
crashes in 2008.
However, teens are
clearly a danger to
others as well
because the total
number of deaths
resulting from these
crashes was 3,431.
"Humans" learn
complex tasks like
driving more from
direct experience
than by being told
what to do,”
said
Arthur Goodwin,
the report’s primary
investigator and a
Senior Research
Associate with the
University of North
Carolina (UNC)
Highway Safety
Research Center.
"Parents should ask
themselves: Do I want
my teen to learn how
to handle bad
weather, darkness,
rush hour traffic or
narrow rural roads
without me in the
car?"
Although graduated
driver’s license (GDL)
systems vary by
state, most require
at least six months
of supervised driving
for beginners;
several states
require up to a year.
During the supervised
stage of GDL, the
research showed
parents need to:
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Ensure ample
practice in all
driving situations–
including frequent
practice at night,
in bad weather, in
heavy city traffic,
on rural highways
and on busy
interstates.
-
Share their driving
“wisdom” to help
teens spot dangers
that aren’t obvious
and see the “big
picture.” Parents
should use “I”
statements,
explaining what
they would do in
critical
situations, so
teens will be more
likely to listen to
and remember.
-
Teach teens to
drive defensively,
be wary of other
drivers and
anticipate the
unexpected things
they might do. For
example, “Even
when I have a green
light, I always
glance both ways to
make sure other
cars are stopping,
because sometimes
they don’t.”
The AAA Foundation
commissioned the
UNC Highway Safety
Research Center
to conduct the study.
The initial phase
concluded in January
2010 and the second
phase will conclude
this fall as
researchers continue
tracking teens once
they obtain their
provisional license.
Ultimately, the study
will shed light on
how teens handle the
high-risk transition
to independent
driving and provide
insight on the nature
of distractions
facing newly licensed
teen drivers.
AAA
offers online tools
and information to
help parents work
with their teen
drivers. The motor
club’s new Web site,
www.teendriving.aaa.com,
helps parents and
teens manage the
complex
learning-to-drive
process by providing
them with
state-specific
information that they
need based on the
teen’s progress
toward licensure.
The
site features AAA
StartSmart, a
series of online
lessons and
newsletters based on
the National
Institutes of
Health’s
Checkpoints
program, which has
been proven to help
parents improve teen
driver safety and is
being offered
nationally for the
first time. Launched
this summer, the site
also offers an online
version of AAA’s
Dare To Prepare
workshop and lessons
from the motor club’s
Teaching Your
Teen To Drive
program, both of
which assist families
that are or soon will
be learning to drive.
For
more information
about the teen
driving study or to
see the full report,
visit
www.AAAFoundation.org.
Video footage from
the study is
available at
http://www.aaafoundation.org/multimedia/index.cfm?button=LTDclips.
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