Active Parenting Makes Teen Drivers Safer

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of teen deaths. In the study, “Associations Between Parenting Styles and Teen Driving Safety-Related Behaviors and Attitudes,” researchers analyzed results from the 2006 National Young Driver Survey, which gathered data on the association between parenting style and driving behaviors of 5,665 ninth-, tenth-, and eleventh-graders. Parents were separated into four groups based on how teens described them: authoritative (high support and high rules/monitoring), authoritarian (low support/high rules), permissive (high support/low rules), and uninvolved (low support/low rules). Teens with authoritative parents reported half the crash risk and were 71 percent less likely to drive while intoxicated compared to teens with uninvolved parents. They were also 30 percent less likely to use a cell phone while driving. Teens with authoritative or authoritarian parents used seat belts twice as often and reported speeding half as often as teens with uninvolved parents. The authors determined that while teens are ultimately responsible for their own behavior, parental involvement that includes both rules and support can effectively foster safer driving practices.

Editor’s Note: A related study, “Primary Versus Shared Access to Vehicles and Assocations With Risky Teen Driving Behaviors and Crashes: National Perspective,” also will be published online on September 28.