Why parents need to lock up their keys!

When people ask what I do, I tell them I run an ecommerce firm with a focus on driver safety.   Rarely do I respond, I am in the business of saving lives.   A lot of what we do at DefensiveDriving.com, however, is providing continuing education with respect to safe driving behaviors, which ultimately, can save lives.

Here is a tip that is not in DefensiveDriving.com’s online driving safety school – parents need to keep their keys to their vehicles in the bedrooms where their kids cannot get to them.

There is a reason why kids are issued permits at a certain age and why they cannot drive without an adult until another, bottom line, it takes increased maturity of teens in their later teenage years, judgment aside, to drive a car.

Young adolescents and early teens really do not have the maturity to drive and their capacity to understand risk is greatly diminished at a younger age.

When I first moved to my current neighborhood, the community had to deal with a tragedy involving young teenagers who decided to sneak out of one of their houses one night, “borrow” their parents car, pick up some friends and go for a ride.   The parents had literally said good night to the boys playing pool on a Friday night and woke up to that knock none of us ever want to hear.   I drive past that one white cross at least four times a week and I know it represents the lives of children who, if they were alive today, would be graduating from high school.

Unfortunately, it happened again yesterday.   A young man, who from the sounds of it, had a lot of tragedy in his life anyway, took his grandparents car, as he was living with them, got involved in a high speed chase with police and wrapped the car around a utility pole at 100 MPH and died.   His companion was ejected from the car and remains in critical care.   The ages – 14 and 13.

So parents, if you have preteen or adolescent like I do and they are fascinated with driving and cars, talk to them.   Talk to them about the dangers of driving, the great responsibility it is and the judgment required to drive.   Have them take a defensive driving course before they get a license, the information therein can provide them with perspective other than your own.

Then, hide your keys in your bedroom.   It just might save their life.

Drive safe and friendly.