Parenting Affects Teen Drivers’ Safety

Parents’ rules can help protect teen drivers, two new studies find. Both were based on a survey of more than 2,000 teen drivers. The first study looked at parenting style and rules. Teens who said their parents set clear rules and kept track of where they were going had half as many crashes as other teens. They also had better driving habits. The second study found that 70% of teen drivers had “primary access” to a car. The car was theirs or they did not have to ask for the keys. About 25% of these teens had been in crashes. This compares with 10% of teens who had to ask for the car keys. Numbers were adjusted to account for the amount of time spent driving. The journal Pediatrics published both studies. The Associated Press and USA Today wrote about them September 25.