Don't Let Your Teenager Drive Without One

For the last 15 years or so, experts urged parents to create for themselves and their teenage drivers, teen driver contracts.

They are agreements between parents and teen driver that explain what to expect when the automobile is driven responsibly and unfortunately, which occurs too often, when the automobile is driven by the teen driver irresponsibly.

Teen Driving contracts are easy to create, and really do help save lives. I encourage you to do a teen driver contract. I did.

When it came time for my teenagers to learn how to drive an automobile, nothing said better or made clearer than a teen driving contract, what was expected of me, my wife, and our teenagers.

Looking back, putting the contract together was an interesting test of wills. Not only that, it was fun.

Being the typically "scared" parent I was...

I tried to pack and stack the teen driving contract with every imaginable clause that said, "if this happens, your driving privileges are suspended".

My teens, on the other hand, fought equally hard for me to "trust" them and "lighten up". In the end, we came up with an agreement all could live with.

Because of our experience, we at DriveHomeSafe.com are major supporters of teen driving contracts for parents and teen drivers. Don't let your teenager drive without one.

As far as my teenagers were concerned, the teen driver contract laid out in black and white what we expected of them, which made their lives a lot less miserable.

They said it kept me from "freaking out" over what they called the "small stuff". Of course, I sweated the small stuff anyway, I just didn't overreact.

We get 1000s of visitors to Drive Home Safe a month and a bunch of emails a day. Parents and teen drivers ask our advice what to do or how to handle teen driving. In my opinion, putting in place a "Teen Driving Safety Contract" is at the top of the priority list.

Here's the surprising part of the teen driving contract process, doing it will be one of the most revealing and thought provoking experiences you may go through with your teen driver.

In addition to that, remember that it takes more than just a "Teen Driving Contract" to help keep your teen driver safe. The first 18 months driving after passing the road test are a teen driver's most difficult.