Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers and State Farm. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
My oldest Tyler is a go-getter. He was ready for his 16th Birthday because here in California, that meant he could get his license. He's a responsible and smart kid, deserving of his license so his wish was granted. He did driver's ed and got his permit before his birthday in January. It wasn't until he got his license in August that I really started to worry. I know my kid is a good driver but what about everyone else? When I came across State Farm's new survey that reveals an alarming gap between parents and teen views on driver licensing laws, I was stunned. Most shocking for me is how much parents overestimate their teens obeying two key provisions of graduated driver licensing laws. You can click the GDL infographic below to see that only 43% of teens state they almost always obey the passenger restrictions while 70% of parents say their teens obey the passenger restriction. This one is huge for me because I'm always telling Tyler he can't drive around his friends! Especially since the presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers.
For nighttime restrictions, 66% of parents said they almost always monitor while only 32% of teens said their parents monitor. In this case, our son isn't allowed to drive at night. There is no reason he should be out after 10pm - 6am.
When I asked Tyler what he thought about the survey results, he said he agreed but that I need to just trust him and I do. We all do. It's other people we don't trust. For as long as I can remember, I have always pushed my sons to obey the law - especially on the road because they can hurt themselves or someone else. Too much responsibility to bear if something ever happened. Life changing. What are your thoughts on the State Farm survey?
Labels: Celebrate My Drive, GDL Laws, State Farm, Teen Driver Safety, Teen Drivers, Teens
