{"id":14423,"date":"2014-10-23T06:34:21","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T23:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/?p=14423"},"modified":"2014-10-23T06:51:33","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T23:51:33","slug":"national-teen-driver-safety-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/national-teen-driver-safety-week\/","title":{"rendered":"National Teen Driver Safety Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Driving<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This week is\u00a0National Teen Driver Safety Week\u00a0– October 19th – October 25th. \u00a0I\u2019m working with Straight Talk Wireless<\/a> to show how you can help give teens the tools they need to become responsible, safe drivers. Car crashes are the primary cause of death for 15-20 year olds; this is\u00a0four times the death rate compared to\u00a0adult drivers (ages 25 to 69)*. \u00a0Perhaps you have a new driver or a teen who has been driving a couple of years now. \u00a0National Teen Driver Safety Week \u00a0is the perfect time to discuss driving facts and tips with your teen that may safe his\/her life. \u00a0It’s also a good time for you to set…or reset…some new boundaries and do what you can as a parent to keep a watchful eye on your teen’s driving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0Sobering Facts to Discuss with Your Teen<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

#1 \u00a0Every day, an average of 10 young people\u00a0are killed and 800+ are injured due to car crashes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s easy to think, “that won’t happen to me.” \u00a0As adults we still think it, though we are a bit more realistic. \u00a0But as teenagers, it’s nearly unfathomable\u00a0that it could happen to them. \u00a0Teenagers have the lowest seatbelt use of any age range. \u00a0Encourage your teen to buckle up, it could save their life.<\/p>\n

You can only imagine the distraction that occurs to your teen driver when their friends are in the car with them. \u00a0Impress upon your teen’s mind their responsibility to drive their friends, themselves…and your car safely. \u00a0It’s an incredible responsibility. \u00a0As such, they have to right to kick anyone out of the car they choose if the person is distracting. \u00a0Help your teen recognize that they have permission to be the authority figure in the car as the driver.<\/p>\n

The risk of a fatal collision\u00a0doubles with a driver and\u00a0one passenger in the car. \u00a0Throw in 2 or 3 more passengers and the fatality rate quadruples! \u00a0Distraction is hardly inescapable. \u00a0Cover these facts with your teen ahead of time so s\/he can be more aware and have a plan of what to do BEFORE everyone piles into his\/her car.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0#2 \u00a0Texting and driving causes your eyes to be off the road for 5 seconds for every text sent. \u00a0This is the equivalent of traveling nearly 1 1\/2 football fields at 60 mph!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wow, 1 1\/2 football fields, that’s a long ways to be distracted while driving. \u00a0You might think, no, my teen would never text while driving 60 mph, but you would be surprised.\u00a0Especially with voice-activated text, people think that speaking their texts keeps them less distracted. \u00a0The problem is they need to read the text before they send it to ensure auto correct didn’t mess up their intended message. \u00a0If it did, the temptation will be strong to fix it while driving so they can send their text.<\/p>\n

The temptation to save time and text while driving is EXTREMELY strong. \u00a0I know, I’ve felt it many times before. That\u2019s why the Safe Driver Car Connection<\/a>\u00a0device from Straight Talk works with an additional free app, called ZoomSafer, (for\u00a0Android<\/a>, Blackberry, and\u00a0iOS<\/a>),\u00a0that disables\u00a0texting and phone usage while the car is in use (even blocks app usage!). \u00a0When a phone call comes in, the caller will automatically receive a notification that the driver will call them back when no longer driving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

# 3 \u00a0Every 5 seconds, a crash is reported to the police. \u00a0About 80% of these crashes are due to distractions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With driving, the distractions can be in or out of the car. \u00a0As a driver, you need to always be alert, you never know what’s lurking around the corner…or who is stepping out in front of you from the curb. \u00a0You see, your teen isn’t the only one combating driving distractions…so are the other teens and adults in other cars…and not all of them are handling it so well. \u00a0The best driver is a defensive driver. \u00a0Liken driving to your teen’s favorite video game. \u00a0You have a set goal…to be somewhere…and you need to get there with as much health as possible while not losing points by hitting things!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

#4 \u00a0In 2012, 22% of young drivers killed in a car crash had been drinking.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you think about it, that’s a high percentage. \u00a0Again, it may not be your teen driving…but another teen on the same road as yours. \u00a0Nonetheless, as a parent, you can do things to lessen the possibility of your teen drinking and driving. \u00a0Growing up I remember my parents telling my teen brother to call them if he drinks at a party\u00a0and is driving. \u00a0My parents, who, by the way, were very strict, told him to call them no matter what the hour and they would come and get him. \u00a0And you know, one night he did call them and they picked him up. \u00a0He was not punished for underage drinking but instead home safe. \u00a0This left a lasting impression on me.<\/p>\n

My kids are still young, but I have already been telling them to call me if they are ever with someone who is drinking or if they themselves are drinking and driving. \u00a0I want to impress upon them early that drinking and driving is a serious problem and we will always be there to get them home safely.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0One Teen Driver Safety Tool to Give You Some Peace of Mind<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"teen<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in July, we introduced the\u00a0Safe Driver Car Connection <\/a>\u00a0device. You plug it into your car\u2019s computer system, through the OBD-II port (under the steering wheel), which helps monitor the driver’s driving, all from your smartphone. \u00a0It is the perfect tool to monitor your teenager’s driving and identify trends where your teen may be conducting unsafe driving practices. \u00a0Additionally, \u00a0the\u00a0Safe Driver Car Connection<\/a>\u00a0device\u00a0secures more information, such as:<\/p>\n

Vehicle Location –<\/strong>\u00a0You will know where your teen is in the car as s\/he is\u00a0driving. \u00a0The car will be tracked every 5 minutes. \u00a0Using the Car Connection software, you will be able to various paths the driver has taken each day. \u00a0Is s\/he where s\/he is supposed to be? \u00a0You’ll know.<\/p>\n

Safety Zones –<\/strong>\u00a0Safety Zones allow you to set up a geo-fence \u2013 or boundary \u2013 around a particular location. \u00a0Safety Zones are helpful in:<\/p>\n

o \u00a0Putting a zone around your car at home so you know when your teen is leaving or arriving home.<\/p>\n

o \u00a0Placing a zone around a place\u00a0like the library, so you know when…or if…s\/he ever arrives there as s\/he was supposed to.<\/p>\n

o \u00a0Setting up a zone on the outskirts of your city, so if your teen crosses it, you know they are driving somewhere they shouldn’t be.<\/p>\n

o \u00a0Have you forbid your teen to go to a friend’s house, one whom is a bad influence?\u00a0\u00a0Now you’ll know if he is obeying you.<\/p>\n

\"teen<\/a><\/p>\n

Driver Scoring –<\/strong>\u00a0You will actually get a score from 0 to 100 as to how good your driving is based on whether you are excessively speeding or breaking, how many sharp turns you take, or even excessive idling. \u00a0\u00a0You can actually receive texts every time your teen performs one of these activities. \u00a0Just don’t call him\/her while s\/he’s doing it, as it will distract them. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42 \u00a0This information, along with other driver habits and mileage, are used to calculate an overall score.<\/p>\n

Vehicle Health –<\/strong>\u00a0In addition to monitoring the driver, Safe Driver Car Connection monitors the health of your car. \u00a0Knowing the health of your car can help you make needed repairs before the car breaks down, which could cause accidents or stress for your teenage driver.<\/p>\n

We actually tested the\u00a0Safe Driver Car Connection <\/a>\u00a0for a month and found it to be very useful and insightful. \u00a0Although my kids are still a bit young, I would totally use the Safe Driver Car Connection device in our car with a new driver in the house, it would provide so much peace of mind. \u00a0Most parents create some kind of contract for their kids’ cellphones. \u00a0The contract typically includes the right by the parent to read emails and texts unannounced. \u00a0Not because parents are nosy, but because they are looking for inappropriate conversations or pictures. \u00a0Our teens are too young to recognize something that my snowball into a big deal later. \u00a0It is our job as parent to help steer them.<\/p>\n

The same is true for the car. \u00a0The car can cause physical damage or even death to others if it is not properly controlled. \u00a0Monitoring your teen’s driving in the car is just as important. \u00a0You teen should be aware that their driving is being tracked; you could even set driving privileges based on their Safe Driver Car Connection score, to encourage good driving habits.<\/p>\n

I have seen other similar tools advertised, but none of them come close to the low monthly cost of Straight Talk\u2019s device. \u00a0They offer service plans for only $10\/30 days or $100\/1 year. \u00a0This is a great deal, considering \u00a0the device \u00a0helps with \u00a0GPS positioning. \u00a0The Safe Driver Car Connection device retails for $139.99. \u00a0Both the Safe Driver Car Connection device and Straight Talk service plans can be purchased at Walmart stores,\u00a0Walmart.com<\/a>, and\u00a0StraightTalk.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"teen<\/a><\/p>\n

During National Teen Driver Safety Week, please, take a moment to have a conversation with your teen about his\/her driving. \u00a0Review the statistics covered in this article and remind him\/her again of the incredible responsibility a driver has to himself\/herself, his\/her passengers, and the others on the road. \u00a0Keep Calm and Text Not. Keep Safe. \u00a0\u00a0#STSafeDriver\u00a0#StraightTalkTesters<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"affordable<\/a><\/p>\n

As a Straight Talk Tester, I have been given monthly service and a phone to use throughout the remainder of the year. \u00a0All opinions are my own.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* \u00a0http:\/\/drdriving.org\/facts\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is National Teen Driver Safety Week – whether you have a new driver or experienced teen driver, we recommend going over these facts and tips with them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[793,747,6,8,10,13,14,16],"tags":[2358,2359,2262,2198,265,266,2360,1937],"class_list":["post-14423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessories","category-cars-2","category-dads","category-gadgets","category-how-to","category-kids","category-moms","category-phones","tag-national-teen-safety-week","tag-safe-driver","tag-safe-driver-car-connection","tag-straight-talk","tag-teen-safety","tag-teens","tag-texting-and-driving","tag-walmart","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/p-content\/themes\/atahualpa342\/images\/articles\/2014\/10\/Driving-While-Texting-Safe-Driver-Car-Connection.jpg?fit=571%2C315&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}