Tag Archive: driver’s license

Ten Tips for New Drivers Before and After Getting Licensed

February 12, 2009

Tips for Before you Get Your Drivers License:

1. Learn the material in your driver handbook, not just so you can pass the test, but so you can carry the information into your driving behavior.
2. Memorize the graduated licensing laws in your state. Not only must you follow them, but you shouldn’t ride with anyone who isn’t following them.
3. Talk to your parents about their expectations and the rules you’ll have to follow to use the family car or get your own vehicle. The time to refine the rules is now, before you have your license.
4. Encourage your parents to let you practice driving in unfamiliar areas, at night, when it’s raining, and on expressways, not just on familiar streets close to home during daylight.
5. Learn to scan the driving scene ahead so you can anticipate problems and react in time. Ninety percent of driving decisions are based on what you see.
Tips for After you Get Your Drivers License:
6. Sign a driving contract with your parents, specifying driving rules and curfews. Incorporate your state’s graduated licensing laws into the contract. The contract should include an agreement for your parents to pick you up, no questions asked until the next day, should you be unable to drive or ride with someone else for any reason.
7. Ask your parents to let you continue practice-driving occasionally; every new driver can use the extra training.
8. Minimize distractions in your vehicle. Keep the radio volume low, put your cell phone away, and ask passengers to minimize conversation. Wear your safety belt and make sure all your passengers wear theirs.
9. NEVER use driving as a stress-reliever. Drivers who do this often speed or get distracted. Learn to manage stress in healthy ways – by taking a walk, taking a nap, talking to a friend, or volunteering.
10. Read the warning labels on any medicines, including over-the-counter (those that don’t require a prescription); many medications cause sleepiness or dizziness and shouldn’t be taken while driving. Read our most recent post on Teen Drivers and Prescription Drugs.

And of course, NEVER drink and drive.

Five Worst Teen Driving Mistakes: Part Five

January 20, 2009

In this five-part series, we’ll discuss the five worst teen driving mistakes:
-They don’t wear safety belts.
-They drink and drive.
-They panic/overcorrect in emergency situations.
-They drive too fast for conditions.
-They ride with other teens.

In this, part five of the series, we’ll discuss a frequent cause of injury and death in traffic crashes for teens – even when they aren’t driving. Riding with other teens is a high-risk activity that your teen will probably participate in even before earning a driver’s license.

No matter how skilled a driver your teen is, s/he is still at risk when riding in a vehicle driven by another teen. And it’s common for teens to pack a vehicle full of friends who are unlicensed or who don’t have access to a vehicle or to save money on gas. Unfortunately, they also do this because it’s fun to listen to music, laugh and talk – huge distractions for an inexperienced driver. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, crash risk for teenage drivers increases incrementally with one, two or three or more passengers. With three or more passengers, fatal crash risk is about three times higher than when a beginner is driving alone. About two-thirds of all crash deaths of teens that involve 16-year-old drivers occur when the beginners were driving with teen passengers.

Studies indicate that passenger restrictions can reduce this problem. Passenger restrictions for teen drivers already exist in many states as components of graduated licensing programs. For parents, knowing and enforcing these passenger restrictions means reducing their child’s risk of injury or death in a traffic crash. While this sounds easy enough, many parents are unfamiliar with the graduated driver licensing laws in their state. And even those who are familiar may neglect to enforce the restriction. A 2000 survey by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that 84 percent of parents of young drivers favored restricting teenage passengers during the first six months of licensure. But some studies indicate that parents leave enforcement of most graduated licensing restrictions to law enforcement – a mistake, since law enforcement does not have the ability to monitor the behavior of an individual teen the way parents do.

To help ensure the safety of your teen, learn the graduated driver’s licensing laws in your state, and make enforcement of them part of your house rules. Monitor your teen’s driving behavior, and review the restrictions often.

Although parents often want their teens to get driver’s licenses so they can transport themselves to school, work and social activities, parents also worry about the risks. Make sure your home driver education program is complete by using a log to keep track of your teen’s progress.

Five Worst Teen Driving Mistakes: Part Three

January 7, 2009

Most parents live in dread of the day their teens get a driver’s license and get behind the wheel alone. Their concerns are well-founded, since teen drivers have the highest death rates in car crashes of any age group. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among Americans aged 15-20. But parents can help their teens be a safer driver even after they are licensed, particularly by paying attention to common risk factors. In this five-part series, we’ll discuss the five worst teen driving mistakes:

They don’t wear safety belts.
They drink and drive.
They panic/overcorrect in emergency situations.
They drive too fast for conditions.
They ride with other teens.

In this, part three of the series, we’ll discuss the difficulty teens have in responding properly to emergency situations. Teens often panic in emergency situations because they have neither the training nor the experience to execute the correct maneuver quickly enough to avoid a crash. They may take no action at all, take too long to react, or overcorrect – which could even make the situation worse.

In a driving emergency, a driver can stop or accelerate, with or without an accompanying turn. Most drivers who act out of panic will simply stop. They may skid to a stop, stop without considering the type of brakes on the vehicle (standard or anti-lock), or slam on the brakes when a more controlled stop is possible. If they try to turn, it is likely to be an uncontrolled turn and is often an overcorrection given the situation. For example, when the right wheels are off the pavement, a panicked driver will quickly yank the steering wheel to the left without slowing down, which could cause a rollover in some vehicles.

Be sure to review the following information with your teen as part of your home driver training program.

Most new vehicles have ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), which allows drivers to stop without skidding. In general, if you need to stop quickly with ABS, press on the brake pedal as hard as you can and keep pressing on it. You might feel the brake pedal pushing back when the ABS is working. Do not let up on the brake pedal. The ABS system will only work with the brake pedal pushed down.

Without ABS, you can cause the vehicle to go into a skid if you brake too hard. Apply the brakes as hard as you can without locking them. If the brakes lock up, you will feel the vehicle start to skid. Quickly let up on the brake pedal. As soon as the vehicle stops skidding, push down on the brake pedal again. Keep doing this until the vehicle has stopped.

In most cases, you can turn the vehicle quicker than you can stop it. You should consider turning in order to avoid a collision. Make sure you have a good grip with both hands on the steering wheel. Once you have turned away or changed lanes, you must be ready to keep the vehicle under control. Some drivers steer away from one collision only to end up in another. Always steer in the direction you want the vehicle to go.

One aspect of having ABS is that you can turn your vehicle while braking without skidding. This is very helpful if you must turn or stop or slow down.

If you do not have ABS, you must use a different procedure to turn quickly. Step on the brake pedal, but then let up and turn the steering wheel. Braking will slow the vehicle some, and it puts more weight on the front tires and this allows for a quicker turn. Do not lock up the front wheels while braking or turn so sharply that the vehicle can only plow ahead.

Another consideration is that generally it is better to run off the road than to crash head-on into another vehicle.

Sometimes it is best or necessary to speed up to avoid a collision. This may happen when another vehicle is about to hit you from the side or from behind and there is room to the front of you to get out of danger. Be sure to slow down once the danger has passed.

Will your teen understand, retain and use the information in the driver handbook, or just memorize enough to pass the test? You can support your teen’s learning and retention of the driver handbook with a new driver prep course. Have your teen start with a Free DMV Practice Test today.

Five Worst Teen Driving Mistakes: Part One
Five Worst Teen Driving Mistakes: Part Two

Why You Should Take a Drug and Alcohol Course: A Note about Marijuana and Driving

January 5, 2009

Of course, a Florida drug and alcohol course is mandatory; you’ll have to take it so you can get your driver’s permit. But a certificate isn’t the only thing you should take away from the class – the knowledge you gain could one day save your life.

Drinking alcohol and driving gets a lot of attention, both in driver’s education courses and in the media, and it should; many teens die in alcohol-related crashes each year. But some teens forget about or ignore the effects of illegal drugs on driving, particularly with drugs that are incorrectly perceived to be harmless, like marijuana. But marijuana, whether used alone or in combination with alcohol, is anything but harmless for any driver.

By far, marijuana remains the most widely used illegal drug among teens. The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Short-term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, difficulty in thinking and problem-solving, loss of coordination, and increased heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks.

After alcohol, marijuana is the substance most frequently found in fatal automobile crashes. Even a moderate dose of marijuana can impair driving performance. Alcohol and marijuana are also often found together, resulting in a dramatic spike in impairment levels and decreased driving performance. The effects of a low dose of marijuana combined with alcohol are much greater than for either drug alone.

Combining any two drugs, or a drug with alcohol, may result in the synergistic effect. This means that the combination of drugs produces effects that are greater than the sum of the effects of the two drugs. This is called an additive effect; instead of a 1 + 1 = 2 result, the synergistic effect may cause a 1 + 1 = 3 result.

Remember, any drug that affects your safe driving can mean a DUI – or worse.

Getting your Florida learner’s permit requires certain steps. Here is a useful Learners Permit checklist to get you started.

How to Get a Florida Learner’s Permit

December 5, 2008

So, you’re fifteen years old and ready to get your Florida Learner’s Permit. Congratulations! You are about to take the first step towards increased freedom and independence – but along with that comes increased responsibility. You’ll need to follow certain steps to get your learner’s permit. Here’s how to make the process as smooth as possible.

First, try to plan ahead. Many new drivers want to get their regular driver’s licenses as soon as they turn 16, but you need to have held a learner’s license for at least one year without any traffic convictions before you apply for your operator’s license.

When you go to the DMV, you’ll need appropriate identification. You’ll also need a certificate of completion for the Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education course. Your parent or legal guardian will need to sign a consent form. Then you’ll be ready to take the written test!

The written test consists of 20 questions about road rules and 20 questions about road signs. You must answer 15 out of 20 questions correctly to pass each test. Then you’ll take a vision test and a hearing test right there at the DMV.

Once you earn your learner’s permit, you must comply with certain restrictions to keep it. You can never drive alone with a learner’s permit, no matter how old you are. You may only drive during daylight hours during the first three months and until 10 p.m. thereafter, always with a licensed driver who is at least 21 years old and occupies the front passenger seat.

You’ll need to follow all traffic laws carefully, both to develop safe driving habits and to avoid further restrictions. If you receive a moving traffic conviction while you have a learner’s license, the one-year period you are required to hold your learner’s license will be extended for one year from the date of the conviction or until you are 18 years old, whichever happens first.

If you receive six points on your driving record within a 12-month period, your driving privileges are automatically restricted to business purposes only for 12 months or until you are 18, whichever happens first. If you receive additional points during this restricted period, the restriction is extended 90 days for each additional point.

In addition, drivers under the age of 21 with a blood alcohol level of .02% or more will have their license immediately suspended for six months. This administrative action is for a first offense; a second offense will result in a one-year suspension. Refusal to submit to testing results in a suspension of twelve months for a first offense and eighteen months for a second offense.

If you are truant in your school attendance, your driving privilege will be suspended until you provide proof you have attended school for 30 consecutive days.

As you can see, once you get your learner’s permit, you’ll need to drive very safely to keep it and to earn your operator’s license. Taking this responsibility seriously will go a long way towards earning your place in society as a trustworthy adult.