AAA SURVEY FINDS PARENTS UNAWARE OF CRASH RISK FOR YOUNGER TEENS; PARENTS KNOWINGLY ALLOW CHILDREN TO RIDE IN CARS UNDER DANGEROUS CONDITIONS

AAA offers tips to parents of teenagers who are learning to drive.

NEWS from AAA Oklahoma, Oct. 16 – Many parents allow their children to ride in cars under conditions they know are dangerous. Furthermore, parents are unaware of the increasing risk of dying in a car crash their young teens face well before they reach driving age. These are two of many gaps between parental knowledge, behavior and traffic safety facts revealed by a new AAA survey of parents of children ages 12 to 17.

An overwhelming majority of parents of teen drivers correctly identified the dangers of driving with multiple teen passengers (96 percent) or even one teen passenger (65 percent), yet nearly half of parents of teen drivers (47 percent) say their teen rides with another teen driver at least once a week. More than one in seven (15 percent) parents of non-driving high school students allow their child to ride with a teen at least weekly, as do five percent of parents of middle school students.

Parents who allow their young teens to ride with new teen drivers likely are unaware of the danger involved. Despite research showing crash risks begin to rise significantly at age 12, the survey found that nine out of ten parents surveyed said that a child’s risk of dying in a car crash does not significantly increase until at age 15 or later.

“Even if their teen is not driving yet, parents need to make teen driver safety a

priority,” said AAA Oklahoma President and CEO Neal Krueger. “Teen crash risks

increase long before teens start driving by themselves, so parents need to talk with their children about being a safe passenger well before they reach driving age."

AAA surveyed parents whose oldest children were ages 12 to 17 and divided them into three groups based on their exposure to teen driving: parents of teens who are driving by themselves, parents of non-driving high school-age teens who do not have a driver’s license or who may have a learner’s permit, and parents of middle school students.

Across all three categories, AAA found parents correctly identified dangerous driving conditions for teens, such as driving with multiple teen passengers (96 percent), late at night (93 percent), after drinking alcohol/using drugs (98 percent), and while using a cell phone (97 percent). Parents properly identified as dangerous some less risky driving situations, such as driving with one teen passenger (74 percent) and during the evening (74 percent), although parents whose teens are currently driving saw these scenarios as somewhat less risky (65 percent and 63 percent, respectively).

The complete survey including additional findings on parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behavior can be downloaded at www.AAA.com/news.

“We’ve made great strides in research identifying risky driving conditions for teens and in promoting graduated driver licensing in Oklahoma to help parents reduce teen crashes and deaths – in fact, teen fatalities have dropped considerably since the state implemented its strong graduated driver licensing law,” said Krueger. “For National Teen Driver Safety Week, we’re calling on parents to establish parent-teen driving agreements with their current or soon-to-be teen drivers. We’re also providing concrete tips for parents to follow at each step of the teen driver process.”

Parent-teen driving agreements help families establish rules and consequences for driving before a teen is permitted to get behind the wheel. The AAA survey found

most parents of teens legally allowed to drive alone (67 percent) are familiar with parent-teen driving agreements, yet fewer than one-third (31 percent) have actually

established a parent-teen driving agreement with their teen. AAA offers parent-teen driving agreements at www.AAA.com/publicaffairs. Click on “Teen Drivers.” 

AAA has the following tips for parents of teen drivers and soon-to-be teen drivers.

If your teen is not yet driving:

• Your child is safest not riding with a teen driver. However, if your teen must do so, it’s less risky with no other teen passengers, not at night, and with a responsible driver.   
• Help your teen recognize dangerous driving conditions, such as if the driver has been drinking, is tired, has multiple teen passengers, is showing off, or is otherwise taking too many risks.
• Talk about being a safe, responsible passenger. Your teen should know to wear a seat belt; refrain from distracting the driver by talking, playing loud music, or engaging in horseplay – and to speak up if he or she feels unsafe.

If your teen is now or will soon be learning to drive:

• Learn about Oklahoma’s graduated driver licensing law at the Oklahoma Dept. of Public Safety Web site: www.dps.state.ok.us/dls/gdl.htm. New teen drivers need lots of practice, measured in both hours of driving and months of having a learner’s permit.
• Learn about parent-teen driving agreements so that you will be ready to use one with your teen when he or she is ready to drive. Work with your teen so that the agreement is not a surprise and is an expected part of the process.
• Select a quality driving school or purchase a parent-taught driver’s ed. kit, such as “Take the Wheel,” offered at cost by AAA Oklahoma. The course entitles the teen to all the rights and privileges of standard driver’s ed., including being able to drive at an earlier age and qualifying for the driver’s ed. auto insurance discount. Telephone (918) 748-1071 or go online to www.aaatakethewheel.com. 
• Talk about passenger safety. The safety tips for younger passengers hold true for high school students riding with their driving schoolmates.

If your teen is allowed to drive alone:

• Review Oklahoma’s graduated driver licensing provisions and consider additional night driving and passenger limits on your teen drivers
  
• Establish and review your parent-teen driving agreement. Agreements are meant to change with time, rewarding the teen with additional privileges in exchange for safe driving.
• Rules about seat belts, drunk drivers, and distracted drivers remain especially important. As teens get older, they become increasingly mobile and their exposure to dangerous conditions increases.

AAA is releasing these parent tips and survey findings as part of National Teen Driver Safety Week, October 19-25. The week draws attention to car crashes as the leading cause of death for teens, killing more than 5,000 teens annually. AAA has been a long-time leader in teen driver safety by reaching out to parents of teens, promoting improved driver training, and lobbying for graduated driver licensing across all 50 states.

For the survey, AAA and international research firm Synovate used an online panel to interview 1,350 adults, whose oldest child is 12 to 17 years old.

As North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 51 million members (326,000 in Oklahoma) with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. AAA Oklahoma can be visited on the Internet at www.AAA.com.