Teen Driving Safety: Simple Habits that Can Save a Life

Why it’s Important to Talk to Teens About Distracted Driving

• Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for U.S. teens, and teen drivers are three times more likely to be in a fatal crash than adults 20 and older, knowing the risks is the first step to preventing them
• Smartphones have introduced a distraction risk earlier generations of parents never had to plan for, and it's reshaping how teens need to be taught to drive
• Nighttime driving, skipped seat belts, speeding, and alcohol use are all major contributors to teen crash deaths, and each one is something parents can address directly
• Every additional passenger in the car raises the risk for a teen driver, so knowing this can shape the rules you set for who rides along.
• This SmartSocial guide pairs the latest safety data with concrete tools, a sample driving contract, conversation strategies, and specific apps for iPhone and Android, so you can act on what you read, not just worry about it

Download the SmartSocial "Safe Driving Contract" here

A Teen Driver's Reminder About Phones Behind the Wheel

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. on Preparing Teens for Safer, Smarter Driving

The Digital Driving Habit That Could Save Your Teen's Life

Before You Hand Over the Social Media Keys

Your Teen's Phone Needs Maintenance Too

The Reality of Distracted Driving

• Earning a driver's license is a major milestone for teens, but for parents, it often marks the beginning of a new kind of anxiety
• Today's teen drivers face a hazard earlier generations never had to navigate: the constant, built-in distraction of smartphone notifications, sending a text, changing a Spotify playlist, adjusting a GPS route, or glancing down at a buzzing smartwatch
• The teenage brain is still developing the impulse control needed to ignore an incoming notification, which is part of why distraction hits teen drivers especially hard
• Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for US teens ages 13-19 years old. They are 3 times more likely to be in a fatal crash than someone 20 years old or older 
• Male teenage drivers are 3 times more likely than female teenage drivers to be involved in a fatal accident
• Driving with other teens or young adult passengers increases the risk with each additional underage passenger (Source: CDC.gov)

Top Risks of Teen Driving 

• Distracted driving 
  
  • A CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 39% of high school drivers admitted to texting or emailing while driving at least once in the past 30 days
  • Even though teens are taught the dangers of texting and driving, 25% still reported responding to text messages every time they drive
• Inexperience
  
  • Newly licensed teens are more likely to get in an accident than more experienced drivers 
• Nighttime and weekend driving
  
  • In 2020, nearly half, 44%, of motor vehicle crash deaths among teens ages 13–19 happened overnight, between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., and half occurred on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday
• Not using a seat belt
  
  • More than half, 56%, of teen drivers and passengers aged 16–19 who died in car crashes in 2020 weren't wearing a seat belt at the time
• Speeding
  
  • Compared to older drivers, teens are more likely to speed and to follow the car ahead more closely, leaving less room to react
• Alcohol and drugs
  
  • Among U.S. high school students who drove, 5.4% had driven after drinking alcohol at least once in the past 30 days, a rate that climbed among older, male, and Hispanic students, and those with lower grades, while 16.7% had ridden with a driver who'd been drinking over that same period (Source: CDC.gov)

How can parents keep their young drivers safe?

• Sit down together and create a SmartSocial "Safe Driving Contract" that spells out clear tech rules, like the phone going in the glovebox or center console before the car shifts into drive
• Introduce monitoring apps as a tool that removes temptation and builds trust over time, not as a punishment or an invasion of privacy
• Give teens the "blame the app" strategy: an auto-reply or blocker app gives them an easy, socially acceptable excuse to ignore friends' texts while driving, without any awkward explanations

Top Apps to Block Distractions & Monitor Safety

• LifeSaver - Automatically locks the phone when the car is in motion, blocking calls and texts, and sends parents a notification once their teen arrives safely at their destination
• Life360 -  Uses background location sharing to give parents weekly driving reports, tracking phone usage, rapid acceleration, and offering automatic crash detection
• Bouncie - A physical OBD-II GPS tracker that plugs directly into the car. Since it doesn't rely on the teen's phone, it's much harder to bypass, and it delivers highly accurate data on speed, location, and hard braking
• Driving Focus iPhone - Built-in Focus Mode on the iPhone that will automatically silence text messages and notifications. Users can even have Siri read replies to you through Bluetooth setup
  
  • To turn on Focus Mode: Settings > Focus > + > Driving > Customize Focus
• Driving Mode Android - Built-in Driving Mode that will automatically mute all calls, notifications, and other alerts
  
  • To turn on Driving Mode: Settings > Modes and Routines > Driving > Start

Conclusion

Apps are a great safety net, but they're meant to supplement, not replace, ongoing conversations about responsibility behind the wheel. This weekend, sit down as a family, review the app options together, pick one to install, and take a joint practice drive to put the new rules into action.