Chevy Aims to Educate: Keeping Teen Drivers Safe
Dummies take the hit to keep teen drivers safe.
There are a lot of milestones in a child’s life, like getting that first tooth and learning to walk, but the one that scares a lot of parents is the day their teenager gets a driver’s license. It’s a rite of passage for teens, but how do families with teens make sure kids are safe once they drive away?
That was the focus of the #ChevySafety event recently held in Detroit during Teen Driver Safety Week. We heard from a panel of experts on teen driver safety and got a behind-the-scenes look at all that goes into making cars as safe as possible for all of us.
First, the reality of the situation. Car crashes were the leading killer of teens ages 13-19 in 2012. That’s a downright frightening statistic, but don’t go running to take your teen’s keys just yet. There are things we can all do to help ensure that our kids are safe whether they’re the ones behind the wheel or a passenger in a car one of their friends is driving.
Car safety starts with buckling up
You may have a car with the latest safety technology, one that warns of approaching traffic, cars in your blind spot, and even beeps if you drift out of your lane, but all that technology isn’t the thing you need to be focused on for keeping safe. The biggest thing that any of us can do, and it’s one that’s been hammered into our heads for years, is buckle our seat belts.
It’s kind of funny that, given the vast amount of safety technology in cars, something old-school is most likely to save our lives. You’d also thing that teens would buckle up all the time since we’ve been strapping them in to within an inch of their lives since the day we brought them home from the hospital, but you’d be wrong.
A study by Safe Kids Worldwide partly funded with a $2 million grant from General Motors showed that 25% of teens don’t buckle their seat belts. Add to that the fact that nearly half of teens killed in car accidents in 2012 weren’t wearing a seat belt and the problem is even clearer. Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of death to those sitting in front by 45% so almost half of those lost young lives could have been saved by a seat belt.
You know it’s important and I know it’s important, but how do we impress upon our kids that they need to buckle up every single time? Talk to them.
Studies show the more we talk to our kids – from the time they’re young, not just when they’re teens – the more likely they are to heed our advice. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has done studies that show teens are twice as likely to buckle up and 70% more likely not to drink and drive when parents take an active part in the process of educating them about driver safety.
We saw the extensive amount of testing that goes into making cars safe, from crash test dummies to high-tech virtual reality labs that can analyze something as minute as the pattern a windshield wiper clears so you can always see clearly. We also got a look at the incredible OnStar Command Center where they can help in an instant if something does go wrong, but it all comes back to parents. We simply need to talk to our kids.
The technology is incredible to experience first hand and it’s easy to see how it can help save lives, and the facility where they run all those dummies through their tests is huge and impressive, but it just won’t do the trick if teens don’t buckle-up.
There are programs like Countdown2Drive that will help you get started with this important conversation. Talk to your kids early and often about buckling up and not driving distracted and you’ve gone a long way toward making sure they come home to you safe and sound.
General Motors covered all expenses to attend this event. Opinions expressed are my own.
Categorized:Car Safety
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