When I turned 16, my parents, before handing over the keys to my new car, bought me a cell phone just-in case of an emergency on the road. While this was not too long ago, these days, parents seem to be taking more proactive steps to keep their teen drivers safe.
With advanced GPS and other devices, parents can now install monitoring devices that allow them the check up on their teen’s driving behavior (http://www.vehiclevibes.com/2009/08/teen-drivers/ ) and alert the driver when he or she is engaging in risky driving behavior. Some devices even allow parents to track where their children are going.
Sound a little overboard? Well according to a recent study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, these in-vehicle monitoring devices may actually work.
In their study, teens who drove with monitoring devices that detected all instances of sudden braking, acceleration, speeding and non-use of a seat belt were significantly less likely to engage in other risky driving behavior such as forgetting to wear a seat belt or speeding, the most prevalent risky driving behavior.
The study, which tested four different monitoring devices, found that the most effective device was the one that gave teen drivers an opportunity to correct their bad driving behaviors before alerting their parents.
Not surprisingly, the majority of teens in the study said the devices helped them become safer drivers but felt the devices were somewhat intrusive.
Since monitoring devices can be expensive, you can also protect your teen driver (http://www.allstate.com/foundation/teen-safe-driving.aspx ) by talking to them about safe driving habits (http://www.vehiclevibes.com/2009/03/top-ten-distractions-for-new-drivers/ ) and consider having them sign a teen-driver contract (http://allstateteendriver.com/contract.html ). However if you are still concerned with your teen on the road, here are several types of in-car devices that you may consider:
- Basic Monitoring Device:
These basic devices store trip information and can monitor speeding and other driving habits.
- GPS Device:
These devices can store information about a car’s location, speed and direction. Real-time systems can send alerts to parents about risky driving behaviors and some are able to alert the driver of bad habits.
- Video System:
DriveCam (http://www.drivecam.com/ ) installs a camera in your teen’s rearview mirror to record images and sounds inside the car and the road ahead. This information is sent to a center where your teen’s driving habits are scored and analyzed. The information is saved and reported to parents if a crash or risky driving occurs.
- MyKey:
In 2010, Ford will introduce MyKey (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27053080/ ) on some 2010 cars and trucks. This special key can limit teen drivers to 80 mph, set a maximum volume for the audio system, and sound six-second alarms every minute when a seat belt is not worn.
Would you consider installing a monitoring device in your teen’s car?
When I turned 16, my parents, before handing over the keys to my new car, bought me a cell phone just-in case of an emergency on the road. While this was not too long ago, these days, parents seem to be taking more proactive steps to keep their teen drivers safe.
With advanced GPS and other devices, parents can now install monitoring devices that allow them the check up on their teen’s driving behavior and alert the driver when he or she is engaging in risky driving behavior. Some devices even allow parents to track where their children are going.
Sound a little overboard? Well according to a recent study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, these in-vehicle monitoring devices may actually work.
In their study, teens who drove with monitoring devices that detected all instances of sudden braking, acceleration, speeding and non-use of a seat belt were significantly less likely to engage in other risky driving behavior such as forgetting to wear a seat belt or speeding, the most prevalent risky driving behavior.
The study, which tested four different monitoring devices, found that the most effective device was the one that gave teen drivers an opportunity to correct their bad driving behaviors before alerting their parents.
Not surprisingly, the majority of teens in the study said the devices helped them become safer drivers but felt the devices were somewhat intrusive.
Since monitoring devices can be expensive, you can also protect your teen driver by talking to them about safe driving habits and consider having them sign a teen-driver contract. However if you are still concerned with your teen on the road, here are several types of in-car devices that you may consider:
- Basic Monitoring Device:
These basic devices store trip information and can monitor speeding and other driving habits.
- GPS Device:
These devices can store information about a car’s location, speed and direction. Real-time systems can send alerts to parents about risky driving behaviors and some are able to alert the driver of bad habits.
- Video System:
DriveCam installs a camera in your teen’s rearview mirror to record images and sounds inside the car and the road ahead. This information is sent to a center where your teen’s driving habits are scored and analyzed. The information is saved and reported to parents if a crash or risky driving occurs.
- MyKey:
In 2010, Ford will introduce MyKey on some 2010 cars and trucks. This special key can limit teen drivers to 80 mph, set a maximum volume for the audio system, and sound six-second alarms every minute when a seat belt is not worn.
Would you consider installing a monitoring device in your teen’s car?
Tagged as:
driving safety,
teen driving
{ 2 comments }
Thanks for posting this information! I hope you get good feedback. One important aspect of our porgram that isn’t clearly stated is that the teen can keep 100% of their privacy (no gps ever, and no videos at all) if they drive in a safe manner – somewhat like they did to earn the right to drive. That nuance is critical to the success of our program – it puts power and control in the teen’s hands – it’s partly why 85% of our teens recommend the program to their peers. We are seeing some AmFam agents place the system in nearly 100% of their customer’s accounts that have a teen driver – it takes a small discount on premiums (10%) and a good explanation of how the program works. Spying on your kids is NOT good for them and is contra-intuitive to good parenting. Careful collection of exceptional and risky driving moments for the purpose of understanding weaknesses and being able to help your teen address the specific weakness is good parenting and it resonates strongly with parents.
As alway, I can be reached at 507.469.4222
Respectfully,
Rusty Weiss, DriveCam
Reading this article got me thinking more about how I made the right decision. A friend forwarded me http://www.carefulteendriver.com and I can’t regret entering in their beta program.
Rather than a high tech solution this simple and low tech decal that tells you how your teen is driving is best. I’ve received a couple of reports about my teen driver from other drivers on the road and have to say that the viewpoint of other drivers helps promote my teen’s safety more than anything. Being able to play back a recording of the angst of another driver helps my teen realize the importance of safety and to share the road.
I’d recommend carefulteendriver.com, it sure costs allot less than these solutions and is just as effective in my opinion.
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