While each of us can educate ourselves about the dangers of distracted driving and take steps to secure our own safety, parents of teen drivers have a more complicated problem: they are responsible for supervising new drivers who are not only inexperienced and much more crash-prone than the safest drivers, but for whom electronic communication is an ingrained habit and an indispensable lifeline to friends. Parents, more than anyone else, need to understand why distraction of new drivers is so dangerous, and armed with a realistic and up-to-date perspective, must take steps to prevent electronic distraction before their teens get behind the wheel.
And so, for parents, here is a suggested game plan:
- Recognize why all teen driving -- even focused and undistracted -- is so dangerous: The human brain is not fully developed until we reach our mid-20's, and the last part of the brain that develops is the part that provides judgment and restraint. Physiologically, teens are drawn to risk-taking and largely incapable of appreciating risk. This is why, to use one study as an example, 85 percent of teens acknowledge that texting is dangerous, but 77 percent believe they can manage the risk. Electronic distraction compounds the immutable risks of teen driving.
Parents who understand these risks and implement these steps will still have plenty to worry about with their teen drivers, but at least they will be taking concrete steps to address the known and predictable dangers of distracted driving.
This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post and the Harvard School of Public Health in an effort to call more attention to the dangers of texting while driving. Distracted driving is the cause of 350,000 crashes per year, and the series will be putting a spotlight on efforts being made to combat the crisis by the public and private sectors and the academic and nonprofit worlds. In addition to original reporting on the subject, we'll feature at least one post a day every weekday in November. To see all the posts in the series, click here; for more information on the national effort, click here.
And if you'd like to share your story or observation, please send us your 500-850-word post to impactblogs@huffingtonpost.com.