Teen Driving Safety
Car accidents are the leading cause of death for American teens. Sixty-one percent of teen passengers die while riding with a teen driver. In response to those two statements, most US states and territories have adopted GDL laws. GDL is the acronym for Graduated Driver’s License. While GDL does not guarantee that your teen will not be involved or injured in a crash, there are ways that help assess the teen driver’s maturity and experience that can increase their safety.
I am an injury prevention educator for a local hospital teaching youth and parents how to use the components of GDL effectively. In an effort to reach more parents with this important information, I am sharing much of what I teach through a series of articles.
If you have a teenager wanting to learn to drive, becoming familiar with the GDL in your area will be one of the most important laws to understand. However, thinking beyond GDL requirements and restrictions is essential to increasing teen driver safety. Parents are the key to teen driver safety when they know which “knowledge lock” to open.
GDL focuses on developing the minimum of driving skills along with some specific restrictions, but using GDL effectively is more complicated than you might imagine.
Teens want to be good drivers; expect to be good drivers; are more than capable of developing good vehicle operation and driving skills when provided with access to well practiced driving experience, but teaching a teenager to drive isn’t just about desire, vehicle operation, driving skills, and experience.
The complication lies in the fact that a sixteen-year-old is severely disadvantaged with the impeller due to the maturation of the human brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex.
The prefrontal cortex of the brain becomes operative around the age of twelve or thirteen, reaching most of its maturity in the mid to late twenties. The prefrontal cortex of the brain is largely responsible for judgment, reason, logic, and decision-making, all of which are necessary for safe driving.
The synapse in an adolescent brain does not connect in the same way as in an adult brain, which is the answer to why adolescents say they “don’t know” when a parent asks, “What were you thinking?” Teens don’t want to make mistakes, but immature brain development doesn’t always help them make good decisions.
Maturation patterns of the prefrontal cortex
There are four reasonable expectations for measuring prefrontal cortex maturation to consider before clearing a juvenile.
- Youth who refuse to wear safety gear when they are going faster than they can walk or run should not be considered for licensure.
- Young people who require a reminder to complete homework or chores are not mature enough to take on the responsibilities of the privilege of driving.
- Youth with behavior problems need a safe and controlled environment to resolve distress … a vehicle is NOT a safe and controlled environment
- Only grant licenses to young people who manage to comply with the agreements, that is, if they say that they will be home at a certain time, but do not call to renegotiate the terms, they fail to fulfill the agreements.
Considerations for driving requirements beyond vehicle operation
A driver uses approximately 1,500 skills, including perception, observation, interpretation and anticipation skills, all of which are developed in the prefrontal cortex of the brain and are necessary for safe driving.
The reason you find yourself hitting the “artificial brake” when driving with your teen driver is that teens mistakenly believe that the driving environment is the immediate area surrounding the vehicle. Guaranteed … if they saw what you’re reacting to, they’d hit the brakes too! But if they don’t see it, they won’t react. Teen drivers need to be taught to “explore the driving environment.” As you drive, ask them questions about the behavior of the vehicles you observe as a way to help them develop the necessary scanning skill. Example: Did you see the car sign for the last ten blocks but did you do a different maneuver?
Provide driving lessons that focus on well practiced experience. “Well practiced” means: To develop a good habit, it must be done correctly at least twenty-one times in a row.
Most GDL laws have three stages for licensing
Apprentice
- Minimum age and duration of the permit
- Required supervised driving hours
- Intermediate
- Minimum age to obtain the license
- Night driving restriction
- Passenger restriction
Full privilege
Looks easy, but meets the basics legal The minimum requirements are not suitable for teenage drivers. Keep in mind that just because something is legal does not make it safe.
Example: Let’s say your state requires a minimum of 100 hours of supervised driving practice when your teen is not taking a formal driver education class. Let’s say the teenager is clocking in at 99 but you still find yourself:
- Holding onto the seat or arm strap; Panting; Hitting the artificial brake
- Noting things like, “I realize you are driving too close to the car in front of you.”
If you stay with the only one GDL legal requirements and license the young man who thinks he is going to point things out to you if YOU are not in the vehicle? To measure driving readiness for basic vehicle operation and traffic awareness, work with the young driver until:
- You no longer need to point out anything
- You no longer feel like holding on or panting
- You no longer need to hit the artificial brake
Next time: Curfew and passenger restriction