Teen Drivers, Tips For Parents

Best Used Cars For New Teen Drivers

Parents often ask me for recommendations about what their new teen driver should be driving.  I thought I’d put all the information in one place.  Overall, the goal is to get them into a safe, sensible vehicle that will best buffer any mistakes they make and protect them well if they get into trouble.

First off, let’s consider your teen driver.  The CDC estimates an average of 6 teens ages 16-19 die every single day in preventable car crashes, and that teen drivers in their first year of driving are at 3 times the crash risk per mile driven as older teens with more experience.   Most teens fail to properly anticipate road hazards, have a tendency to speed and fail to preserve proper safety space.  The two most common crash types for new teen drivers are single vehicle run off the road (which mostly happens because they take curves too fast) and rear-end collisions (failing to have enough following distance in traffic).

WHAT NOT TO GET

suvI’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: SUV’s (sport utility vehicles) and similar vehicles are poor choices for new teen drivers.  The high center of gravity increases rollover risk.  Combine this with a new teen driver likely to misjudge the proper entry speed to a curve, and you have a recipe for disaster.

musclecarLikewise, high-performance cars should be out of the mix.  This includes anything with more than 6 cylinders in the engine, and anything with rear-wheel drive.  Most new teen drivers already have a tendency to go too fast and leave too little space – giving them too much power on top of this is a recipe for disaster.  Rear-wheel drive vehicles have a tendency toward oversteer skids, which new teen drivers may not have the skills to counteract.  They also tend to be much harder, and more dangerous, to drive in inclement weather.

minicarsAlso, stay away from compacts and minicars – these simply don’t have the mass to protect your young driver in a crash with anything larger than themselves (which is every other vehicle on the road).

SO, WHAT TO GET?

The best choice for a first car for a new teen driver is a mid-sized, 4-door, 4-cylinder, front-wheel drive sedan.  If you’re on a tight budget, there’s good news.  Safety features such as airbags, antilock brakes and traction control have been standard on many cars for more than 20 years, so you can go all the way back to the mid-1990’s for a great car at a bargain price.

Here are some good choices.  All of the vehicles below are mid-sized or large sedans with 5-star government crash ratings, and all can be had for under $5,000.  Click on the images for more information.

Audi A6
Buick LeSabre
Chevrolet Lumina
Lexus ES300
Oldsmobile 88
Volvo 850
Honda Accord
Subaru Legacy
Toyota Camry

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Highway Safety, Safe Driving Tips

Survive a Deadly Pileup Crash

Note: I originally wrote this article in December, 2012.  It is no longer available at its original source, so I am reposting it here.

On Friday, October 5, 2012, 53 cars were involved in a pileup crash on a Florida highway that injured more than 50 people.  And that, apparently, was just the beginning.  On Thanksgiving day, a 150-car pileup near Beaumont, Texas killed two people and injured nearly 80 others.  Within a single week, an additional six pileup crashes were reported:

  • Dec. 17: 27 car pileup in Quebec City
  • Dec. 19: 60 car pileup in California
  • Dec. 19: 7 car pileup in Vancouver
  • Dec. 19: 35 car pileup in New York
  • Dec. 20: 23 car pileup in Texas
  • Dec. 20: 25 car pileup in Iowa

That’s nearly 400 cars wrecked in just 8 crashes in a 12-week period – five of those pileups have happened in the past 24 hours.  There are some common factors to these incidents.

All of them happened on highways.  In most of them, weather conditions were considered a “contributing factor”.  In all of them, driver error was a primary factor.

While highways offer convenience and efficiency, allowing us to quickly move between distant cities, simple errors can quickly turn them deadly.  Here are four tips to keep yourself out of a deadly pileup.

1. ADJUST YOUR SPEED.

In most states, the maximum speed limit posted on a road applies only during “optimal conditions” – that is, dry roads in daylight with good visibility.  If weather conditions deteriorate and the roads become compromised with rain, ice or snow, or visibility is compromised with fog or darkness, the law requires drivers to reduce their speed accordingly.

The distance it takes your car to come to a complete stop depends on a few things, including your reactions, your speed, the mass of your vehicle and your traction (here’s a tip: good tires on dry roads stop waaaaay shorter than bald tires on wet roads).

 

stopping-distancesDriving too fast shortens your stopping distance while slippery roads increases it.  This leaves you open to hydroplaning or skidding – either way, you’re out of control.

2. MAINTAIN A SAFE FOLLOW DISTANCE.

But speeding isn’t the only mistake here.  On the highway you should maintain a 4-6 second follow distance from the car in front of you, and add an extra second for every inclement weather condition (add a second for rain, another for fog, et cetera).

 

following-distance-at-varying-speeds

This gives you time to react safely if something awful goes down ahead of you.

3. KEEP YOUR SPACE CUSHION CLEAR.

In addition to your follow distance, make sure you keep a space cushion around your vehicle for safety.  Stay aware of the traffic around you, and don’t let yourself get boxed up – boxed-in cars become squished cars in a traffic pileup.

4. CHANGE YOUR PLANS.

Here’s the simplest advice to stay alive:  if the weather is forecast to turn bad, clear your schedule and stay home.  If you absolutely have to drive, stay off the highway.  Take local roads where traffic is more likely to be moving slowly anyway.  Arriving late is better than never arriving at all.

If you learned something from this article, great!  You’re now a little bit smarter than the average driver.  Share this with as many people as you can and maybe we can put an end to these horrible pileup crashes.

Driving Behavior, Highway Safety, Safe Driving Tips, Teen Drivers

Dodging Debris

When driving, especially on the highway, you really never know when circumstances will suddenly change.  At highway speed, you’re moving at about 80 feet per second or faster.  If something suddenly pops into your path, you may only have a second or two to react.

Watch this video, taken from the Modern Driver DashCam.  In this clip, a living room recliner blows out of the bed of a pickup truck in the right lane before bouncing to a stop in the left lane of a highway.

Notice that the only escape path was to quickly move into the adjacent lane – a move which in only possible if the lane is vacant.  One of the most important things to remember about driving on multilane roads is to always leave yourself an escape path.  Try to position yourself in the traffic flow so that the lane next to you is empty, and other cars are at least two seconds away.  If you’re constantly maintaining this emergency buffer space around your car, dodging an attacking recliner is a relatively easy maneuver.

Uncategorized

Fan Art!

Yesterday, as I picked up a student at his house for a driving session, I was presented a gift by his little sister.  She had drawn a picture of me with my car at an intersection, complete with traffic lights and stop signs.  I had her sign the drawing and wanted to share it with all of you.

Fan art by Sophia, age 8.
Fan art by Sophia, age 8.

As driving instructors, we don’t only impact our students.  If we’re doing it right, we should leave a lasting impression on family members, including parents and even younger siblings.  I love that this 8-year-old girl, at least for a few minutes, is thinking about traffic and driving.  I hope it’s a passion she keeps for the rest of her life, along with art.

Sophia, when you’re ready to start driving, we’ll count this gift toward your first lesson.

Autism, Autism And Driving

BAS Family Conference

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Developmental Programs, Bureau of Autism Services will be hosting a free one-day conference for individuals with autism ages 17 and older and their family members, including parents, spouses, siblings and others.

This conference will provide provide strategies and resources about Advocacy, Relationships & Building Community.

 Conference Highlights:
  • Presenters sharing knowledge based on their personal and professional experiences
  • Resource Fair highlighting Pennsylvania Support & Advocacy Groups and organizations offering helpful information for adults with ASD and their families
  • Opportunities to socialize, connect and network
Saturday, September 19,  2015
Lancaster, PA
Registration is now open! To register for the conference, please email bettertogether@tiu11.org or call 1-844-300-4250 to request a registration form. This conference is free; there is no registration fee, but pre-registration is required. Continental Breakfast and Lunch will be provided. Registration deadline is September 8, 2015.
For more information, please contact  the Autism Services, Education, Resources & Training Collaborative (ASERT). Visit www.PAautism.org or call ASERT at 877-231-4244.

Drive Better