It’s one of the hardest things for parents of teenagers to do – let them drive away in a car without you!
For years you have done your best to keep them safe and now you are handing them keys to a two-ton machine on wheels.
There is a way to check on young drivers. A GPS device that can send parents an email or text alert when a teenager leaves school and arrives at the soccer game — or leaves home and arrives in the mall when they’re supposed to be at a friend’s house.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2,715 teenagers ages 13-19 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2015. About 2 of every 3 teenagers killed in crashes in 2015 were males.
Seventy-nine percent of teenage crash deaths in 2015 were passenger vehicle occupants.
Not surprisingly, some teenagers have a less enthusiastic view on GPS tracking devices. They feel it is an invasion of their privacy. Some parents say they would feel bad spying on their children, and will not use a GPS device.
Is there a happy medium?
-Dianah Gibson