[May 28, 2015] |
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GEICO asks parents: is your teen driver prepared for more time behind the wheel during the summer months?
As school winds down for the summer, teens will have more opportunities
to get behind the wheel, which makes now a good time for parents to
brush up on safe driving laws.
Those laws - Graduated Drivers Licensing Laws or GDL Laws - have
specific rules for teens to follow, and they've proven to be enormously
effective. First introduced nearly 20 years ago, GDL laws have reduced
teen accidents by as much as 30 percent on average*. Also, fatal crashes
for teens have declined steadily and significantly during that time.
GEICO asks parents to review their state's GDL
laws with their teens so summer is a great time and a safe time for
everyone.
Some key examples include:
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Limit the number of passengers: For every additiona teen
passenger in a vehicle, the risk of an accident increases because
passengers can often cause distractions and encourage risky behavior.
Most states have laws limiting the number of passengers for new
drivers to help them better focus on the road and drive more safely.
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Maintain nighttime curfew: Most fatal teen crashes happen
between 9 p.m. and midnight. While it may be convenient to give your
teen the car for late-night activities, this isn't the safest choice.
Nighttime driving proves to be one of the most difficult and dangerous
tasks for inexperienced drivers.
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Put in the hours: Practice driving in as many different types
of situations as possible. Go out with your young driver in good and
bad weather, on rural and urban roads, highways, and more.
Most
importantly, log at least the amount of practice hours your state
requires. More is better.
Falsifying practice hours to
speed up the licensing process is extremely detrimental for a novice
driver, and puts others' safety at risk. Once your teen gets licensed,
still ride with him/her periodically to reinforce what you practiced
together.
Tailoring your household rules to mirror GDL laws could help your teen
become a safer driver. A summary of GDL
laws for your state is available from the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety.
*Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150528005140/en/
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