Helping teens maintain safe driving habits starts at home with open communication between parents and young drivers. According to past Liberty Mutual/SADD research, teens of parents who establish clear consequences for breaking family rules of the road are less likely to drive under the influence of alcohol (16 percent vs. 29 percent) or speed (44 percent vs. 56 percent) than those without set consequences. To encourage family communication about safe driving during National Teen Driver Safety Week (October 18-24) and year-round, Liberty Mutual Insurance created new tools available at www.LibertyMutualTeenDriving.com that help facilitate responsible driving conversations between parents and teens.
“When parents and teens build their safe driving plans together, they avoid miscommunication and mismanaged expectations,” said Stephen Wallace, SADD Chairman and CEO and author of the acclaimed book on youth development and decision-making, Reality Gap. “Although these tools live online, they are designed to prompt effective, face-to-face communication between teens and their parents, which we know leads to safer driving behaviors.”