Parent Guide

Contents

Table of

Introduction: Welcome to teenSMART Program Overview Our Goal: Helping Your Teen Be a Safer Driver The Method: How the Program Works Your Role: Helping Make the Program a Success Looking at the Bottom Line Working Through the Program Step 1: Parent-Teen Activity Looking at the Big Picture Step 2: Computer Time Logging On Step 3: Parent-Teen Activity Searching for Hazards Step 4: Computer Time Understanding Risk, Speed, and Space Step 5: Parent-Teen Activity Driving the Drive Step 6: Computer Time Ramping It Up Step 7: Parent-Teen Activity Staying the Course Step 8: Computer Time Certification Test (Helping Your Teen Get Ready) Extending the teenSMART Program References

3 4 4 6 7 8 9 10 15 16 20 21 26 27 34 35 39

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Introduction

Welcome
to
W h a t Welcome to teenSMART! Congratulations on taking a big step toward reducing the chances that your teen will get in a car collision during his/her first few years behind the wheel. Adept Driver created the teenSMART program with the belief that your involvement is critical for success. You need to be engaged and hands-on to make sure your teen is applying the lessons learned in the program and translating them from the computer to the real world. Thats why weve created this Parent Guide to help you make the best use of your time in a way that wont add to your already busy schedule. W e ' r e A l l A b o u t

This Parent Guide is organized as follows:

Program Overview gives you a summary of why the program is important, how it works, and the role you play in making it all happen for your teen. Working Through the Program provides you with step-by-step guidance for the Parent-Teen Activities that form a key part of the program, as well as information on what your teen is working on during the Computer Time sessions. We recommend that you look over the material to get up to speed as soon as possible.

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Program
Why Was teenSMART Created?

Our Goal: Helping Your Teen Be a Safer Driver

Overview

The teenSMART program was created for one reason: to reduce the chances that young drivers will get in car crashes! Thats a tall order especially in light of the major risks facing young drivers. The research from the National Safety Council shows:1 Teenage drivers have the highest crash rate of any age group Teen drivers are four times more likely to get into a collision than a 25-to-34year-old driver Death and injury rates for teen drivers are 300% higher than other age groups Over 80% of teen drivers will be in a police reported collision in the first three years of driving The question becomes, Do we have to accept this, or is there something that can be done to reduce these odds? We believe the answer is Yes. We also believe that the best way to help your teen begins with looking at the dramatic difference in crash rates between teen drivers and drivers with just a few more years of experience. This difference is captured in the chart below.1
crash Rate By Age and Experience
Collisions per 100 Licensed drivers
60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 16 25 35 45 55 65 75

new to road after one year after two years after three years

For those who start driving at age 18, the crash rate is still close to that of 16-year-olds who are just starting.

63 out of 100 new drivers get into a crash the first year

driver Age

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Clearly, more experienced drivers are doing something different that puts them at much less risk of getting into an accident. The keys to reducing young driver crashes are: To understand what these more experienced drivers are thinking and doing to stay safe To find a way to teach these behaviors and techniques in a way that will help your teen right now

What Do More Experienced Drivers Do?

So what do good drivers do that younger, less experienced drivers do not? From our research and our interaction with some of the worlds foremost authorities in both driving skills and lifestyle issues, we identified six critical factors involved as shown in this model:

More experienced drivers:

Constantly use their visual search skills to check their mirrors, to look for possible signs of trouble, and to stay alert to the changing conditions around them Always adjust their speed to fit road conditions and the flow of traffic in order to avoid the twin pitfalls of going either too fast or too slow Actively manage the space around them so they do not get too close to other vehicles in front, to the rear, and to the sides Recognize hazards and take appropriate action to reduce danger Analyze the risk involved in any given situation and dont take unnecessary chances
I

F e S T Y L e L I
K
/
B e N e

U
S
I

S e A

R C
H

Know that lifestyle issues can impact how safe they are behind the wheel. For most of us, these behaviors are such an ingrained part of good driving that we are not aware of doing them. For young drivers, though, these can all seem new and unfamiliar. So how can these concepts be taught to teens in a way thats effective and fresh? That was the next challenge in the creation of the teenSMART program

Speed

SpACe

HAZARd ReCOGNITION

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Program Overview

The Method:
H o w t h e P ro g r a m
A Blend of Teaching Methods:

Wo r k s

teenSMART uses a variety of teaching methods to reach your teen. Parent-Teen Activities Four Parent-Teen Activities are made up of parent-teen discussion, video review and in-car driving exercises. They allow the teen to apply what he/she has learned to real-world driving situations, and to do so under your supervision. Computer Time There are three Computer Time sessions. Each lasts about 60 minutes. These sessions provide hands-on practice where the teen is asked to demonstrate a driving-related skill and is provided with immediate feedback. There are also dramatic scenarios where typical teens talk about safe driving skills. Certification Test The final element is the Certification Test. It lets your teen see how well he/she has mastered the critical driving skills and knowledge items. This test will take about 60 minutes. Your teens results will be captured on the computer as he/she completes the exam.

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Your Role:
What Do You Need to Do?
Make the time to conduct the activities

Helping Make the Program a Success

Your involvement in the teenSMART program is critical. To be fully involved, take the following steps: Prepare for the Parent-Teen Activities by reading this guide Talk with your teen about the program, respond to questions, and reward the desired behaviors Help your teen prepare for the Certification Test Reinforce the concepts taught in the program after your teen has completed it

What About a Designated Driver?

There may be times when neither parent will be able to supervise a given Parent-Teen Activity. If so, you might want to designate someone you trust to carry out this role. If the activity involves going out on the road, this designated driver should be a licensed driver who is over twenty-five years of age. In general, this kind of delegating should be the exception, not the rule. Consider it when: You know someone whose expertise in an area of driving might add something to your teens learning experience. It will be difficult to keep the program on schedule if you dont delegate the task. If you do pick a designated driver, show him/her the appropriate pages in this Parent Guide for detailed instructions. Once the activity is done, ask your designated driver to tell you how the experience went for your teen.

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Program Overview

Looking at

Bottom

The

Line

What Will My Teen Be Doing Differently Behind the Wheel?

Typically, teens who work through the program demonstrate the following behaviors: They are better at using their eyes (and their cars mirrors) to spot trouble on the road and they see it faster. They are better at maintaining a safe distance between themselves and other traffic, and they dont tailgate. They are smoother drivers. Because they see potential hazards sooner, they dont have to make sudden, last-minute changes. They are better at analyzing the risk of a course of action and select better strategies than driving fast or cutting in and out of traffic. They are better at making mature driving decisions and defending them.

What Benefits Can Be Expected Here?

Your teen will be a safer driver who is at less risk of being hurt or killed in an accident. Your teen will pose less of a safety (and liability) risk to others. As your teens driving record improves, he/she is likely to see lower insurance premiums. If your teen is less likely to be in an accident, that means fewer and less expensive repair bills.

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2 11 1 1

Working
Through the
2 3 4

Program

Creating a teenSMART Schedule: Covering the Steps

Your teen will need to work through all of the teenSMART program steps. These steps include a mixture of: Parent-Teen Activities Computer Time Sessions

So How Can You Help As a Parent?

Before your teen begins the teenSMART program, read through the Parent-Teen Activities in this guide. Get a sense of what they involve and how you can work them into your schedule. Then sit down with your teen and complete the Master Schedule provided in the Student Workbook. This means discussing the Parent-Teen Activities and factoring in the rate at which your teen wishes to complete the program. When working out a schedule, keep in mind that these Parent-Teen Activities need to be coordinated with the dates when your teen is completing the Computer Time sessions. The Roadmap on the computer will guide you and your teen. Your teen should take three to four weeks to complete the teenSMART program. This allows enough time for him/her to learn the material and make it his/her own. At the same time, it keeps the program moving forward and allows your teen to retain the material in order to complete the Certification Test at the end.

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Program Overview

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1
Objectives
10

Step One
Parent-Teen Activity: Looking at the Big Picture
Deepen your understanding of program content and reinforce what will be taught and how Get parents and teens talking about safe driving and the issues challenging teens today Build a sense of involvement and partnership around safe and skillful driving and your teens participation in the teenSMART program

What Do You Do?

Install the teenSMART program on your computer and register your teen's Student ID Watch the teenSMART video Looking at the Big Picture with your teen Talk about what you saw in the video Let your teen interview you for That Was Then/This Is Now Take and review the Teen Driver Facts and Fictions Quiz with your teen Create a master schedule with your teen

How Long Should It Take?

The entire activity should take about one hour and fifteen minutes.

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Big Picture Video & Discussion

The goals of the Parent-Teen Activity video Looking at the Big Picture are to discuss the program and highlight the differences between more and less experienced drivers. The video previews what the teen is going to learn in the program. Your role is to help your teen with any questions he/she might have from watching the materials.

L o o k i n g

a t

t h e

Watching the Video

Be sure to watch this video together. Its a way of getting you both familiar with the look and feel of the program. As you watch the video, the camera style may strike you as being on the herky-jerky side. This is intentional. We wanted the film to reflect the contemporary look that teens are accustomed to from television programs and music videos. As you watch the video, think about the six key factors: Visual Search, Space Management, Speed Adjustment, Hazard Recognition, Risk Analysis, and Lifestyle Issues. Think about where your teen might already be strong and where he/she might need help.

Questions for Discussion

After the video is over, ask your teen the following questions and provide guidance and feedback, as you feel comfortable. What questions do you have about what you saw? Which of the six key factors do you feel are your strongest? Which of the six areas do you feel you need the most help with?

A Final Word of Advice

Rememberyour job isnt to solve any or all problems your teen has at this point. You just want to give your teen a chance to express his/her feelings so farand to give him/her a sense that you care. Most of the issues and problems that come up here will be dealt with in the program. So concentrate on listening to your teen, and reminding him/her that youre there to play a supportive role.
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Step One

That Was Then/This Is Now

Interview

Directions

Your teen will be interviewing you to get a sense of how being a teen driver now compares and contrasts with what you went through at that age. The questions you will be asked by your teen are outlined in the Student Workbook. Look them over before the interview begins.

Interview Questions
Think about these questions before your teen begins the interview. When answering, try to give meaningful responses. Avoid Yes or No answers. Focus on how you felt and how you grew. What scared you? Who encouraged you? How does all that compare to what teens are facing now? Your goal is to let your teen see your own teen experience in a way that will build understanding between you. At the same time, try to get a sense of the difficulties that your teen is facing and how that puts him/her more at risk than you were at that age. The point of this exercise is to let your teen compare and contrast what it is like to learn to drive now with what it was like in the past. If you have learned to drive in only the last five to ten years, you should designate this task to someone else. Ideally, that person should have learned to drive at least ten years ago, and preferably more than that.

Enlarging the Discussion

The purpose of this exercise is to look at learning to drive from different points of view. You may want to have more people involved than just you and your teen. Maybe a grandparent can take things further back in time. Maybe an uncle or cousin can talk about learning to drive in a different stateor even another country. Again, the point is to compare experiences to see where we all have the same problems and where things change depending on time and location.

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Facts and Fictions

Teen Driver

Quiz
Circle Your Answer
FACT OR FICTION FACT OR FICTION

In this exercise, you and your teen will take a look at some of the stereotypes about how teens behave behind the wheel. Complete the quiz as your teen does the same in the space provided them in the Student Workbook.

Stereotype

1.  Teens are more likely to drink and drive FACT OR FICTION than adults. 2.  Teens cant hold their liquor as well as adults so they are more at risk when they drink and drive. 3.  Teens must be safer because they have sharper and quicker reactions than most drivers, especially older ones. 4.  Teens are inherently reckless drivers because they like to take risks. 5.  When teens are involved in a serious collision, it is usually their fault.

FACT OR FICTION

FACT OR FICTION

6.  The teen crash problem is caused just by FACT OR FICTION young male drivers. 7. Teens are more likely to be distracted FACT OR FICTION while driving.

Your Work
When finished, review the answers on the following page and discuss them with your teen.
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Step One

Facts and Fictions

Stereotype:
1. Teens are more likely to drink and drive than adults. 2. Teens cant hold their liquor as well as adults, so they are more at risk when they drink and drive. 3. Teens must be safer because they have sharper and quicker reactions than most drivers, especially older ones.

Teen Driver

Answers
Fact or Fiction?
FICTION: Adults are more likely to drink and drive. However, teens have less experience driving while intoxicated, and havent yet learned how to handle it as well. FACT: Teens who drink and drive are at far greater risk of being involved in a fatal collision than older drinking drivers. Their judgment is more impaired by just one or two drinks than older drivers. FICTION: Teens do have quicker reaction times, better eyesight, and hearing than older drivers, and this would seem to make them safer drivers. However, it does not usually work out this way because teens have not learned how to use these skills to their advantage.

4. Teens are inherently reckless drivers because they like to take risks.

FICTION: While some teens do take risks to show off, most teens try to be responsible drivers. However, even responsible teens still have a much greater likelihood of being in a crash because they lack the advanced skills that will help them to identify and react to hazards. FACT: Research has shown that teen drivers are far more likely to be responsible for the collision than older drivers. Driver error and speeding are often cited as the causes. FICTION: Although teenage males do have a higher risk of collision than their female peers, the risk of collision for teenage females is still very high much greater than that for older drivers. FACT: Teens use cell phones to talk and text more frequently than older drivers. They also adjust in-car music systems more frequently than older drivers. While older drivers compensate by slowing down or allowing more following distance when engaged in distracting activities, teens do not. These distractions significantly increase teen crash risk.

5. When teens are involved in a serious collision, it is usually their fault.

6. The teen crash problem is caused just by young male drivers.

7. Teens are more likely to be distracted while driving.

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2
Search ahead Search behind

Step Two
Computer Time: Logging On
In your teens first Computer Time, he/she took three computer-based tutorials (CBTs): Introduction: Preview and Practice CBT 1: Driving With Your Eyes Wide Open CBT 2: Taking a Closer Look

What Your Teen Learned in This Step:

Your teen was introduced to a number of visual search techniques, including: Search to the sides Your teen was given practice in integrating these search techniques into an organized approach, including using mirrors properly. Your teen was taught that beginning drivers tend to focus on the car immediately in front, while more experienced drivers look at least 10-15 seconds ahead of where they are going in order to anticipate trouble and avoid it. Your teen was given a chance to apply this information on the computer to a number of typical hazards.

How This Affects the Next Parent-Teen Activity:

In the next Parent-Teen Activity, be sure to reinforce these good search techniques and proper mirror use as you and your teen complete the Hazard Mapping Driving Exercise.

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Step Two

3
Objectives
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Step Three
Parent-Teen Activity: Searching for Hazards
 Practice identifying potentially hazardous real-world environments, and discuss possible coping strategies Help your teen build awareness of potential hazards  Reinforce the sense of partnership around safe and skillful driving with your teen

What Do You Do?

Watch the teenSMART video Searching For Hazards with your teen and briefly discuss Take part in the Hazard Mapping driving exercise Complete the Worst of the Worst exercise Youll find directions for each of these activities on the following pages of this guide.

How Long Should It Take?

The activity should take about two hours. Most of this time should be taken up while driving routes that you travel on an ongoing basis.

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Hazard Mapping
Driving Exercise

Directions

In this exercise, you and your teen should drive several of the routes your teen most often faces, for example, to school, to work, to band practice, to a best friends house, etc. Drive these routes at the times your teen feels are most stressful, for example, at night, during rush hour, when school lets out, etc. As you drive each route, you and your teen should take turns driving. The person who isnt driving will act as a notetaker. This means drawing pictures of, and jotting down a few words on, hazardous environments/situations for later discussion. As examples of a hazardous environment or situation, you might identify: An intersection where traffic merges from several angles into one lane A stretch of road where people drive aggressively or thoughtlessly (outside a local fast food franchise or in a shopping mall parking lot) A place where pedestrians and bike riders can add to the sense of hazard A hangout where teen drivers may be more involved in looking at each other than looking at the road Naturally, the more factors that contribute to a given situation, the more complex the sense of hazard will be. That, in itself, is a major learning point for this activity. Build an awareness in your teen that hazards can come in many shapes and forms and can present multiple threats.

Getting Started What Routes Should You Drive?

Sit down with your teen and identify the routes that he/she drives most often. Take out a map and let your teen describe to you the exact route(s) he/she takes, then plan when you are going to drive them together. You should divide this activity into three separate drives, with each one being about thirty minutes long. That would give you about an hour and a half behind the wheel. You should also discuss how you will alternate the driver and notetaker roles on each drive. A good idea is for you to play the driver first so your teen can concentrate on watching for hazards. If you wish, you can drive the same route a number of times with the two of you taking turns playing the notetaker. Use these questions for selecting routes: How often does your teen drive the route in a week? Are there sections of the route that feel particularly challenging or scary to your teen?
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Step Three

Hazard Mapping
continued
Are there sections that have a bad reputation for causing accidents or being difficult to handle? Are there sections that provide a variety of potential hazards that you can discuss? Are there multiple factors contributing to the sense of hazard? You might also seek guidance from your local police department and/or insurance agent on areas that traditionally pose problems for less experienced drivers.

When You Are Driving

Rule #1 is drive safely. Dont get so wrapped up in what you are doing that you forget to follow the normal rules of the road. As you look for hazards, be sure to reinforce with your teen the visual search skills that were discussed earlier. This means looking ahead, behind, and to the sides. Whenever you feel that you are entering a situation that feels a little more hazardous, ask your notetaker to start writing. Without compromising your safety, tell the notetaker exactly what it is about a given situation that makes it feel more hazardous to you. Pull over any time (safely!) when you want to discuss what youve seen with the notetaker.

When You Are Taking Notes

Whenever you get to an environment that your driver feels is hazardous, observe as much as possible in order to complete one of the Hazard Map worksheets that are found in your teens Student Workbook. From time to time, try to reinforce good visual search behaviors by asking the driver to tell you what he/she is seeing in front, to the sides, and behind. Make sure this doesnt distract the driver from dealing with the situation at hand. Try to time these questions so they occur when the driver is feeling relatively calm and unstressed. If you sense that your teen is getting too overloaded or stressed by conditions, ask him/her to pull over and stop the car. Again, safety is the number-one concern here. If you feel the need, ask the driver to pull over (when it is safe) so you can complete your map for any given hazardous area. Feel free to ask the driver for help in providing the details if youre not sure what you encountered. In your teens Student Workbook, you will find a completed Hazard Map worksheet as an example to refer to before you begin drawing your own. You will also find a number of blank worksheets to use when you are in the car together.

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Worst of the Worst Exercise

After you complete the Hazard Mapping driving exercise, you and your teen should sit down, discuss the hazards you saw, and pick out the most challenging ones. Follow these steps to complete this activity: 1. Together, review all of the Hazard Map worksheets that you and your teen drew. 2. Agree upon the situation that was the toughest. 3. Help your teen make a clean drawing in his/her Student Workbook on the Worst of the Worst worksheet. 4. As you finish the picture, review some of the strategies and techniques you could use to minimize the danger involved. These can include such things as slowing down, anticipating trouble, or avoiding the intersection altogether. When you have completed these steps, you have also completed this Parent-Teen Activity.

Picking the

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Step Three

4
20

Step Four
Computer Time: Understanding Risk, Speed and Space
In your teens second Computer Time, he/she completed these computerbased tutorials: CBT 3: Understanding Risk CBT 4: Key Concepts of Speed and Space

What Your Teen Learned in This Step:

Basic principles of risk perception that can impact how we drive, including the notion of cumulative risk that builds up over time. Important lessons about speed adjustment and space management, including defining sight distance, creating a two-to-four-second space cushion with the vehicle in front, and dealing with limited visibility.

How This Affects the Next Parent-Teen Activity:

When you do the Interactive Driving exercise in the next Parent-Teen Activity, pay particular attention to how well your teen is doing in matching his/her speed with the flow of traffic. You should also monitor how well your teen is doing in maintaining a safe following distance behind the car in front of him/her.

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Objectives

Step Five
Parent-Teen Activity: Driving the Drive
Introduce you and your teen to the idea of interactive driving as a positive, realistic, and non-threatening way to improve your teens driving
Step Four 21 Step Five teenSMART /Parent Guide

Reinforce with your teen some of the key concepts discussed thus far in the teenSMART program

Continue building a sense of your involvement and partnership around safe and skillful driving

What Do You Do?

Watch the teenSMART video Driving the Drive with your teen and discuss it Carry out at least two rounds of interactive driving with your teen

How Long Should It Take?

The activity should take about ninety-five minutes. However, the more time you can spend with your teen doing interactive driving, the better.

Looking at the

Driving the Drive

Interactive Driving

Video & Discussion

The Goal of This Video is Twofold:
First, it describes the technique we call interactive driving. This is a powerful way to get both you and your teen involved in practicing safe driving. Next, it reinforces the ideas and concepts taught in the program. Your goal is to learn the proper techniques for conducting an interactive driving session. This means acting both as a driver and observer in a series of rounds. As you play these parts, you also reinforce key concepts taught in the course.

Watching the Video

Sit down with your teen and watch the video. Make sure you understand how this method works, especially in areas such as giving feedback in a supportive, non-threatening manner. After the video is over, ask your teen if he/she has any questions, and talk about them. Feel free to watch the video as many times as you wish to make sure youre both clear on how to proceed. Its best that you do this activity immediately after watching the video. If you allow too much time to go by, youre both likely to forget some of the important details of how this activity works. On the following pages, youll find guidelines for the nuts and bolts of conducting an interactive driving session.

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Interactive Driving
Exercise
The goal here is for you and your teen to get a chance to play both roles:

Directions

A driver who does commentary driving An observer who offers feedback and coaching

Getting Started What Routes Should You Drive?

Talk with your teen about what routes youd like to drive. They should be different from the ones you drove in Hazard Mapping. That way, youll be faced with new situations and challenges. Also, pick routes that will present a variety of situations. Try for a mixture of: Residential/suburban Downtown/commercial Highway/freeway Rural/country Its a good idea to start with a relatively relaxed and stress-free environment. As you get more comfortable with interactive driving, you can select routes that are more challenging. This exercise should take at least 75 minutes. Its our recommendation that you do it all at one time. However, you can break it up into smaller trips, if you prefer. For example, you could do it in 45-minute and 30-minute segments on consecutive days. The main point is that you get in the time together. We suggest that a given round should take about 15-20 minutes, and proceed roughly like this: About 10-15 minutes for the driver to do commentary driving About 5 minutes for the observer to share feedback You should have the opportunity to fit four rounds into the 75 minutes. This means each of you would drive twice and play observer twice.

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Step Five

Guidelines
Guidelines for Being the Driver
Rule #1 is drive safely. Dont get so wrapped up in describing what you are doing that you forget to follow the rules of the road. As you drive, dont try to comment on everything you see and hear. Instead, restrict yourself to things that really impact your driving decisions. Its good to say, I can see that someone is coming up too close on my rear bumper. Im going to signal and move over a lane so he can go by. On the other hand, you dont need to say, That car two blocks away from me is a station wagon. It looks like its in good conditionI like the color In your driving commentary, stress the following: a. How you are adjusting your speed to match the flow of traffic, road conditions, and visibility b. The kind of space cushion you are keeping in relation to the cars around you c. How you are using visual search techniques (looking ahead, to the sides, and behind) to identify hazards When you are listening to feedback from your teen, accept it with good grace. Its best to listen and not to argue or prove anyone right or wrong. Part of the growing experience for your teen is to sit in the observers chair and to use his/ her evaluative skills. Also, model the same constructive behaviors of listening and learning that teens should display when you give feedback to them.

Guidelines for Being the Observer

When you play the observer role, you want to give feedback to the driver in a way that is helpful. Nobody likes to feel that they are being attacked. And, as we all know, the teenage ego can be sensitive. To help you, weve developed some Observer Feedback sheets. Youll find copies in the Student Workbook. Use these sheets to structure your feedback sessions. They are based on the following guidelines: Ask your teen to pull over safely to the side of the road before you start giving feedback. You dont want your teen to attempt to listen to you and drive safely at the same time. That may be too much of an overload! Always begin with saying two or three positive things about what your teen did right. Dont begin by jumping into a criticism of what you felt went wrong. Instead, stress the positive first. This is just human nature. We all like to hear something good up front that will reassure us that the other person is on our side.

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More Guidelines

for Being the Observer

Ask the driver for his/her own brief take on what went well and not so well. By giving the driver the chance to express his/her own feelings first, youll reduce any sense of confrontation. Youll also reduce your own burden in terms of trying to cover everything. Finally, youll lessen the risk of belaboring the obvious. (Often, we know as drivers what weve done wrong without the need for further prompting.) Instead, you can focus on those areas where the driver is truly unaware of what he/she is doing. When you give corrective feedback, concentrate on just two or three things. The more you criticize, the less your teen will hear. Some of this is just losing track of whats being said and becoming overloaded. Also, this can open you to a charge of nitpicking. Try to prioritize what youve seen, and pick out the two or three things that seem most important. Limit your comments to things that your teen can do something about. This means focusing on behaviors and not on personal comments. If we are told, You need to adjust your side mirror so you can see better behind you, the appropriate response is clear. On the other hand, lets say were told, Youre driving carelessly. Dont you care if you hit someone? Theres nothing that we can do in response to such a statementother than argue or stew in resentment.

Be Safe

Try to stay in your own chair. This means focusing on talking about how you feel, rather than acting like you are judging (and condemning) the other persons actions. You may want to try this format for your feedback to your teen: I feltwhen youbecause Its better to say, I was feeling a little scared when we got so close to that red Toyota, because I thought there was a chance we might hit him than to say, You drive recklessly because you dont care if you scare people or not! End on a positive note. Always finish up by reminding your teen of what he/ she did well, and of how much you appreciated the effort. You dont want the experience to end with your teen having a bitter or negative feeling. One last word: in the video, you may get the idea that the observer isnt supposed to talk while the car is in motion. In general, this is a good idea. You dont want to distract the driver with a lot of comments or interrupt the commentary driving. Of course, if you do see something dangerous or threatening, you should speak up! Remember, the first rule is always be safe.

A Word about Follow-Up

When the Interactive Driving session is over, recommend that your teen continue to practice those areas where improvement is needed. You can use the completed Observer Feedback sheets as an ongoing reference and memory jogger about what areas to keep working on and improving.
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Step Five

6
Blind spots
26

Step Six
Computer Time: Ramping It Up
In your teens third and final Computer Time before the Certification Test, he/ she completed these computer-based tutorials: CBT 5: More on Speed and Space CBT 6: Putting It All Together (Practice Test)

What Your Teen Learned in This Step:

Your teen focused on a number of safe driving techniques, including dealing with: Merging into traffic Multi-lane streets Cars merging into ones lane Exiting a highway

How This Affects the Next Parent-Teen Activity:

In the next Parent-Teen Activity, youll spend some drive time practicing these same situations and techniques. Make sure you feel comfortable doing these kinds of things yourself, or assign a designated driver.

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7
Objectives

Step Seven
Parent-Teen Activity: Staying the Course
Help your teen practice the driving techniques taught in the final Computer Time Give your teen a chance to practice emergency stopping techniques in a safe environment Help your teen do some goal setting in areas where he/she needs to improve Continue building a partnership around safe and skillful driving and your teens implementation of concepts taught in the teenSMART program

What Do You Do?

Step Six 27 Step Seven teenSMART /Parent Guide

Participate in the final Drive Time exercise, including practice in emergency stopping techniques Complete the Lifestyle Issues exercise Watch and discuss the teenSMART video Staying the Course Help your teen do some goal setting

How Long Should It Take?

The entire activity should take about one hour and forty-five minutes. Again, the length will depend on the amount of time that you and your teen spend behind the wheel in the Drive Time exercise.

Drive Time
Exercise

Directions

Your goal is to practice with your teen the driving techniques that were covered in the last Computer Time: Entering a lane of traffic and merging Maintaining a space cushion ahead and to the sides of the vehicle Dealing with traffic in multi-lane streets Dealing with other cars merging into traffic Dealing with blind spots Anything else covered earlier in the program that might still be giving your teen problems. Also, give your teen a chance to apply what was learned about emergency stopping techniques from a reading assignment in the Student Workbook.

Getting Started
Ask your teen to review what was covered in the final Computer Time. Focus on the following: Was there anything he/she didnt understand and would like to discuss? What would he/she most like to go out and practice?

Emergency Stopping and Antilock Brake Systems (ABS Brakes)

Ask your teen about the reading assignment on emergency stops (with or without ABS brakes) in the Student Workbook. Be sure to: Cover whether or not your car has ABS brakes. Check his/her understanding of the material. You might ask, Based on the kind of brakes we have, what braking method would you use in an emergency? Cadence braking (pumping the brakes) versus full-out pressure?  Answer any other questions he/she might have.

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Picking a Good Place to Practice

You should decide on some driving routes that will allow your teen opportunities to practice. Select routes that provide: A number of opportunities to practice merging and dealing with cars trying to merge. Try to include highway on-ramps, roads that feature multiple lanes merging into fewer, areas where construction workers might have put up barriers forcing three lanes into two, etc. Multiple lanes of traffic to practice maintaining a good space cushion ahead and to the sides, and looking for cars that might be in ones blind spot A good place to practice emergency stops safely. Try using a parking lot where there will be no risk to any other cars, and where you wont run the risk of scaring or offending the neighbors. (If you use a parking lot, you can set the stopping points, measure in rough terms the distances involved, and get a real feel for how long it took to bring the car to a stop.)

Additional Practice
You should also look at this final drive time together as a chance to do some less structured practice. Follow these guidelines: Ask your teen if there are any driving skills that he/she would like to revisit, e.g., Visual Search, Hazard Recognition, Speed Adjustment, or Space Management. Build your session around his/her responses. Ask your teen if there are other hazard areas that he/she would like to drive. For example, there might have been a given intersection that he/she might have felt intimidated by before, perhaps even to the point of feeling it was too dangerous to try. Maybe now your teen might feel ready to take it on. As always, the goal is to stay safe and within your teens comfort level. Use some of the commentary and observer feedback techniques from the Interactive Driving Exercise. You might ask your teen to talk you through it while merging into traffic or maintaining a safe space cushion in heavy traffic. Then you could give feedback on what was done well, something that might be improved, and how you felt overall.

practice

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Step Seven

A s k i n g
?

Right Questions
To give more structure to your drive time, ask your teen some guided questions. These questions are based on the Computer Time practice exercises. Theyll give your teen a chance to apply what he/she has learned.

t h e

How Risky Does This Feel?

From time to time, ask your teen whether the risk of the situation has gone up or down. Then ask your teen to explain why he/she feels this way. You might pose this question to your teen when you notice that traffic is getting more congested as a number of cars merge onto the highway. Another example might be to ask this question when you enter a construction zone where the lanes narrow down or merge together. Whatever the prompt, the overall point should be to reinforce the idea that your teen should always be on the lookout when this sense of risk is increasing. In that way, he/she can be more alert to possible dangers and be considering how to deal with them safely.

Whats the Clue?

As you are driving together, you might see clues that a situation could be getting more hazardous or challenging, e.g., a flashing red light at an intersection, a road construction sign, a car making a U-turn ahead, a car slowing down and putting on its flashers, someone getting out of a car with a lot of packages and not paying much attention, etc. At such times, you might ask your teen to use his/her visual search skills to detect such a clue and tell you what it is.

What /Where Is It?

In an exercise to test your teens visual search skills, ask where something is in his/her field of vision. You might ask, I see a school bus. Where is it? In a related way, you might ask your teen to identify what kind of car is involved in a certain situation, e.g., What kind of car is passing us on the right? or What color is it? Again, you want to get your teen into the regular habit of looking around in an active way, checking all of the mirrors periodically, and not just focusing on the car ahead.

What Would You Do?

Ask your teen from time to time what he/she would do if trouble should occur. This is especially helpful in terms of your teen thinking about escape routes in times of emergency or hazard. You might say, If the car ahead of us slammed on the brakes, where would you go to avoid a collision? In another situation you might say, If someone started honking and tailgating you right now, could you move over to the right lane safely?
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Lifestyle Issues
Exercise
In the Computer Time sessions, your teen has been introduced to the idea that lifestyle choices impact driving. In this exercise, well expand on the concept "How you live is how you drive."

How You Live Is How You Drive

In the space below, jot down your definition of "How you live is how you drive." Ask your teen to do the same in the space provided for them in their Student Workbook.

Risky Lifestyle Choices

Risky lifestyle choices apply to everyone, even adults! In this exercise wed like you to take a short trip back in time to your teenage years. What were some of the risky lifestyle choices that teens were making back then? Write down some examples of what you consider to be risky lifestyle choices for teens in the space below. Your teen will do the same in the space provided for them in their Student Workbook. CHOICE: CHOICE: CHOICE: CHOICE: CHOICE: Review the statistical evidence provided in the Student Workbook. Discuss this information with your teen. As you can see, lifestyle choices do indeed impact our driving.

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Step Seven

Looking at the

the Course
Video & Discussion
Now that youve completed the Lifestyle Issues exercise, you and your teen should watch the teenSMART video "Staying the Course" This video further expands upon the lifestyle issues your teen has been introduced to so far in the teenSMART program. The objectives of this video segment are to: Expand upon the idea that "How you live is how you drive"  Encourage your teen to think about the benefits associated with mature behavior  Encourage your teen to think about what kinds of risks teens take and why  Identify the kinds of risky behaviors that can be correlated to risky driving  Allow your teen to start thinking about how to identify possible coping strategies and to verbally defend their choices Remember, the teenSMART program is not intended to teach what is right or wrong when it comes to taking risks. The final choice is up to your teen. The program does, however, want to make it clear that risky lifestyle choices DO correlate to unsafe driving. Extensive research shows that risky behaviors (or lifestyle) in some areas can translate into risky driving and collision involvement. The narrator will act as a guide during this exercise. We believe that teens given enough information can make good decisions! Your role in this exercise is to provide support.

Staying

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Parent-Teen

Action Planning

Your goal is to work with your teen to plan what to do now that the teenSMART program is coming to a close. This involves two types of planning: First, review the two or three improvement goals that your teen has set for him/herself in the Student Workbook; these are areas where your teen still needs to improve. Next, revisit your basic "rules of the road" with your teen to see if they need to be changed/adapted based on what has happened during the teenSMART program.

A Few Words About Setting Goals

When you review the improvement goals your teen has set, keep these thoughts in mind: The goals should be as specific as possible, and tied to concrete behaviors. The goals should have a time frame. There should be some practical way to practice getting better and meeting the goal. It wouldnt make much sense to say, Get better at dealing with downtown traffic if you live in a rural area and the nearest big city is hours away.
Step Seven 33

There should be some way of observing if the goal has been accomplished.

Looking at the Rules of the Road

After you have reviewed your teens improvement goals, work together to test your mutual understanding of the current rules of the road, and identify any changes that you feel should occur based upon your teen completing the teenSMART program. This may involve extending your teens driving privileges when he/she has demonstrated a greater level of maturity and skill behind the wheel. However, if you feel it wise, it can also mean restricting driving privileges if you think your teen is currently taking on more than he/she can comfortably handle. As an example, you might decide that driving at night poses too great a risk to your teen at his/her current level of driving skill. You will find a worksheet for working on these rules in your teens Student Workbook.

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Step Eight
Computer Time: Certification Test
Helping Your Teen Get Ready
Your goal is to help make the Certification Test painless, stress-free, and successful for your teen. You can do this by supporting him/her in the process of studying for the test.

Guidelines for Preparing Your Teen

1. Remind your teen that there are two types of questions on the Certification Test: a) Multiple choice questions where your teen has to choose the best answer b)  Driving scenarios where your teen has to respond to what he/she sees on the screen 2. Assure your teen that all of the multiple-choice questions in the Certification Tests are covered in the REVIEW: Practice Questions included in Step 8 on the computer. There are no additional items! If your teen has made a good effort to work though these items and can answer them correctly, he/she should not have any problems with the multiple-choice portion of the Certification Test. 3. Monitor your teens studying. Ask your teen if he/she has any questions about the Practice Questions in Step 8 in particular, check on which items seem difficult and provide coaching as appropriate. 4. There is also a REVIEW: Greatest Hits CBT summary included in Step 8. This is a memory jogger for topics covered in the Computer Time sessions. Consider scheduling some time to sit down with your teen, watch the video together, and see if your teen has any questions.

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Extending the teenSMART Program

Once your teen has completed the Certification Test, he/she may think the program is over. In truth, completion of the program represents a significant milestone in his/her ongoing progress. We suggest taking the following steps with your teen:

Ongoing Practice
Whenever your teen gets behind the wheel, he/she should try to practice and apply what was learned in the program. The Additional Driving Practice section in your teen's Student Workbook has been provided with this in mind. It guides you and your teen through additional practice exercises that review and reinforce the skills previously taught in the program.

States With Graduated Licensing

Many states require teens and a supervising adult to spend a certain amount of time engaged in supervised driving practice in order to become fully licensed. The Additional Driving Practice section provides meaningful in-car exercises to do during this mandated practice time.

Monitoring the Action Plan

Check in with your teen to see how well he/she is meeting the goals that the two of you agreed upon. You should keep this up until the goals are met or you feel they need to be changed. As you monitor progress and work together, you and your teen should be working through the following types of questions: Were the goals meaningful? Were the goals specific enough? Should any of the rules of the road be changed based upon your teens progress towards accomplishing these goals?
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Were the goals too much of a stretch?

Extending the teenSMART Program

continued... Rewarding the Right Behaviors

As you and your teen work to continue to apply what was learned in the teenSMART program, dont forget that positive reinforcement can mean a lot to young people. If you see your teen doing something right, dont hesitate to acknowledge it. Sometimes this can take the form of a simple way to go or youre doing great when you see something you like. As your teen improves and grows more responsible, you may also want to think about extending some additional driving privileges.

Looking for Trouble Signs and Areas for Improvement

Observing how your teen is doing is a big part of making sure he/she continues to improve and doesnt slide back into bad habits. We suggest that you play the observer role as much as you can when your teen is behind the wheel. You may even want to go so far as to schedule the occasional round of interactive driving with your teenif only as a refresher course.

Reviewing the Materials

If you see that your teen is failing to apply an important concept, or forgetting what was covered during the program, you have some options you can consider: Repeat the related Parent-Teen Activity with your teen. If he/she is having problems with a certain difficult intersection, go out and do the hazard mapping activity for that specific spot. Focus on whats new or difficult about the area, and discuss coping strategies. As we suggested earlier, a round or two of interactive driving can be done whenever you wishand can be tailored to deal with a specific difficulty. Have your teen review the related computer-based tutorial (CBT). Revisit the teenSMART program videos for material on the area in question.

Looking for Additional Resources

There are many other resources that you and your teen can turn to for more information on a given area. We suggest you contact your state agency that provides drivers licenses to the public. You can also contact your insurance carrier. Naturally, the Internet has become a powerful and convenient source of information. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can provide the latest traffic statistics and video clips with safety tips (www.nhtsa.dot.gov). Topic areas that you might search for are safe driver, traffic safety, and teen drivers.

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A Final

Thanks

word of

Wed like to conclude this Parent Guide by giving you a round of applause for all of your hard work in making your teen a safer driver. Its something you certainly should feel great about! We know that the added work and diligence required by this program may have added to your already busy lifestyle. However, the payoff for you and your teen, and for all of us, is substantial and cant be underestimated! Thanks again!

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Extended Program

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References

1. National Safety Council, Injury Facts, 2004 Edition, Page 104. 2. TEEN DRIVER FACTS AND FICTIONS Kim, K., Li, L., Richardson, J. and Nitz, L. (1998). Drivers at fault: Influences of age, sex, and vehicle type. Journal of Safety Research 29 (3): 11-179.

Massie, D.L., Campbell, K.L., and Williams, A.F . (1995). Traffic accident involvement rates by driver age and gender. Accident Analysis and Prevention 27 (1): 73-87. Mayhew, D.R., Donelson, A.C., Beirness, D.J. and Simpson, H.M. (1986). Youth, alcohol and relative risk of crash involvement. Accident Analysis and Prevention 18 (4): 273-287. McKnight, A.J. (1996). Causes of the problem: the role of experience-related factors in the collisions of young drivers. In H. Simpson (Ed.), New to the Road: Reducing the Risks for Young Motorists. University of California: Los Angeles, 35-40. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (1998). Youth, Fatal Crash and Alcohol Facts. Department of Transportation: Washington, D.C.

Williams, A.F . (1996). Magnitude and characteristics of the young driver crash problem in the United States. In H. Simpson (Ed.), New to the Road: Reducing the Risks for Young Motorists. University of California: Los Angeles, 19-26. Williams, A.F ., Preusser, D.F ., Ulmer, R.G. and Weinstein, H.B. (1995). Characteristics of fatal crashes of 16-year-old drivers: implications for licensure policies. Journal of Public Health 16 (3): 347-360.

3. CBT 3 Understanding Risk Retting, R.A., Ulmer, R. G. and Williams, A. F . "Prevalence and Characteristics of red light running crashed in the United States": Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Arlington, Virginia, 1988
References teenSMART /Parent Guide 39

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