Should classes regarding teen driver safety be required for parents?
Just because teens are young doesn’t mean the decisions they make don’t have big impacts. There are some places where how teens act can have truly major effects. Among these places are the roads. Unsafe decisions by teens behind the wheel could have all kinds of significant consequences.
Such consequences could include serious injuries to others. Individuals injured by teen drivers, like other motor vehicle accident victims, can seek out guidance from skilled personal injury lawyers regarding what legal claims they may be able to pursue related to their injuries.
Many things could impact how safe teens act when driving. One is how aware they are of traffic rules. This doesn’t just include general traffic rules, but also the rules that apply specifically to young drivers. How high do you think awareness of such rules is among teen drivers in Nebraska?
Another thing that has the potential to be impactful is how aware parents are of the traffic safety rules that apply to their teens. How aware parents are of these rules could affect their ability to be a good teacher of safe driving habits to their kids and set well-informed household driving rules for their kids.
Courses on this topic for parents haven’t typically been a part of the requirements for teens getting a driver’s license here in America. However, this is starting to change a little. In 2007, Massachusetts became the first state to require such courses. Since then, two other states have put such statewide requirements in place. Currently, all of the states which have such rules are on the East Coast.
There are a lot of differing opinions out there on the idea of requiring parents to take special courses in order for their teen to be eligible for a license. Some say such rules can play a very important traffic safety role. Others say such rules are overly intrusive.
Do you think more states will implement such requirements in the future? Would you like to see Nebraska have such a rule some day? What impacts do you think such a requirement would have on teen driver safety in the state if it were put in place here?
Source: The Huffington Post, “Driver’s Ed For Parents? Some States Say They Need It,” Jenni Bergal, Aug. 25, 2017