In March and April your teen drivers will be going through the exciting and sometime nerve-racking time of Prom season. Many schools have assemblies using totaled vehicles and stories of teen fatalities in accidents during Prom night.
These talks can have a positive impact; however, the parents of Teen Drivers need to do their part to ensure the safety of their teen driver and his/her date.
Here is a reminder of some of the Teen Driver Laws in Pennsylvania that could affect your teen driver:
- Teens with junior licenses may have only one unrelated person in the car with them under the age of 18, unless a parent is also going along for the ride.
- After 6 months with a clean driving record, a junior license holder may transport up to three underage passengers without a parent in the vehicle.
- Failing to wear a seat belt is a PRIMARY offense, meaning the police officer may pull over a car with an unbelted driver or passenger for no other reason than that he or she noticed a seat belt not in use.
- Texting while driving is illegal. Use of a hand held cell phone should be discouraged at all times.
- Review alcohol and drug use laws with your teen.
Parents are the primary educators of their children and this carries onto driver education. Make sure your teens know the laws. We have many tools available to parents of teen drivers including a parent-teen contract and a sheet discussing possible consequences of breaking that contract.
Prom time is an exciting time for all involved. Parents should consider being a chauffeur for their teen driver. A few years ago I chauffeured my niece and her date to the prom in a Tigger outfit. How exciting it was for her to have Tigger open the door for her when she arrived at the prom. It was fun and I got a lot of looks especially when I was driving home with no one else in the car.
Go to our website at www.spencerinsurance.com and click the “Have a Teen Driver” button to be taken to our website designed for parents of teen drivers. Please call our office to learn about all the tools we offer for parents of teen drivers. “Your Protection and Peace of Mind is our only Business.”
