Lesson 15: How Technology can Help Keep Your Teen Safe

Though technology can pose many distractions on the road, it can also help keep your teen safe. Use these tips to take advantage of advanced safety features, warnings and distraction-blockers to protect your new driver behind the wheel.

Do Not Disturb

Distraction is a perpetual risk on the road, one that can dramatically increase an inexperienced teen driver’s crash risk. Cell phones can be a major source of distraction in the vehicle, but there are ways to limit this danger. Work with your teen to manage the “Do Not Disturb” settings on your phones, which can hold all notifications until a drive is over. This is a great way to leverage technology to protect your teen, since it’s easy to set and can remove the risk on every trip.

In-Vehicle Technology

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are increasingly common in vehicles, and can dramatically improve safety on the road. There are features to warn of road hazards or dangerous driving, as well as others to assist with parking and backing up. Some features can even help avoid crashes or reduce injuries. But while these systems can help protect your teen, they shouldn’t be relied upon to stay safe. Review the vehicle’s manual with your teen to learn about the available features, how they work and how to ensure they are engaged. Check out MyCarDoesWhat.org to learn more about them.

Talk: Technology can bring a difficult balance of safety and danger into the vehicle. While some features can dramatically improve your teen’s safety, others can increase the temptation to drive while distracted. Talk to your teen about these risks so that he or she considers them before bringing any type of technology onto the road.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Lesson 15: How Technology Can Help Keep Your Teen Safe

Do Not Disturb

In-Vehicle Technology

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Lesson 14: Stay Safe in a Traffic Jam

Lesson 16: Remember: Your Teen Needs Your Help to Stay Safe

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