Driving Safety for Teens, College Students and the Elderly

Maybe you have a college student home for the summer or perhaps you still have a child living at home. Some of us have teenage grandchildren. Or an elderly parent who insists on driving, even though it seems risky due to failing eyesight, hearing and reflexes.

Although my daughters are in their twenties, I continue to worry when they are on the road. I've told them about Oprah's no cell phone zone pledge that Julia Roberts, among many others, signed. Roberts says she keeps her purse in the back seat so she won't be tempted to call or text someone.

Several years ago, after reading that head airbags significantly reduce fatality rates, I became determined to buy a car with all the latest safety features.

And after each of my three daughters had her license for a year—we attended a daylong accident avoidance course, where, among other things, we each practiced behind the wheel of a skidding car.

I thought I had a lock on every safety precaution. Then, several local teens died in separate crashes in which excessive speed played a role. In one case, a deer crossed the path and our friends' son, the most trustworthy kid we knew, lost control.

It occurred to me I had never talked to my girls about the hazards of driving fast. After all, my girls almost always acted responsibly.

I raised the issue of exceeding the speed limit and was astounded to hear my eldest say, "Everyone drives fast. Some kids go a hundred miles an hour on Dalecarlia," a quiet parkway near our home in Washington, D.C.

One explanation of why young people take risks emerged from a National Institutes of Health study suggesting that the brain is not fully developed to control risky behavior until age 25.

As a teenager, I careened around curves going 90 mph. I cannot say why I drove fast, but it wasn't about getting somewhere in a hurry.

I tried to make an impression on my children, emphasizing the greater danger of being out on weekend nights when drivers are more likely to drink. My kids also knew they could call me at any hour to pick them up, no questions asked.

And instead of a curfew for arriving home, I gave my girls a time by which to phone to say they were on their way, thus eliminating pressure to beat the clock while driving.

I drove myself crazy thinking about everything that could go wrong. A multitude of distractions can threaten even the most experienced driver.

Given the statistics on accidents involving motorists, eating, texting or talking on cell phones, even with earpieces, why haven't all states banned the use of food and phones while driving? A study has shown that a twenty-year-old driver using a "hands-free" cell phone had the same reaction time as a 70 year old not using a phone.

And who hasn't indulged in other behaviors that increase the likelihood of crashing, like fiddling with the radio or reaching for a handbag?

Once my girls were old enough to be traveling with other inexperienced drivers, I patted myself on the back for emphasizing the importance of being a good passenger.

But I cannot say my advice took hold, since one of my daughters regularly asked—often from the back seat—things like, "Mom, do I have too much blush on the left side?" even though she knew I hate those annoying and dangerous drivers who turn to make eye contact with their passengers.

"Don't Drink and Drive" campaigns have helped to significantly reduce alcohol-related fatalities. But are young people also aware of the extent to which marijuana and other drugs, even legal ones, can impair the ability to drive? My children have told me that kids who would not dream of drinking and driving frequently get behind the wheel while high on marijuana.

And what about driving when sleepy? I lectured my daughters on the importance of being well-rested before getting behind the wheel, supporting my case with a quote from the New York Times that "not sleeping enough can have the same results as drinking too much."

Yet most teens, seem to be in a state of continuous sleep deprivation. Do the math: after-school activities, homework, dinner, a few moments of down time. It simply does not compute that a student can also get eight hours of sleep.

Experts say that children model themselves on parents' behavior. So I figured I could count on my kids to have lifelong habits of car maintenance and buckling up. But admittedly, I have been guilty of running the occasional yellow light or, when late, exceeding the speed limit.

When my oldest daughter was a college senior, she told me, "So many kids at school drive drunk."

One of her friends believed her faith in God would protect her. My daughter worried that even when the people she loved were driving sober, they were at risk of being injured or killed by drivers who were drunk or reckless. What could I say, except that I worried about that too? And I still do.

What driving safety rules do you ask your loved ones to observe?

How do you get aging parents to give up their car keys?