The best way to ensure your teen driver is safe after getting a license is to ensure she is a safe driver BEFORE you even let her test. Many states require parental permission, even for 16 year-olds, and if you do not feel your child is ready, do not let her test! It may make you unpopular and it may be inconvenient, but it just may save lives.

Once thought of as core curriculum in high schools, Driver's Education programs have, unfortunately, all but disappeared in many states. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year-olds, and in most accidents where a teen has been killed, the driver responsible was also a teen.

Even with the lack of driver's education offered and frightening statistics, most parents spend a minimum amount of time with their children before they allow them to test. Even worse, a common belief among parents is that if their kids can pass the test, they MUST be good drivers. The tests cover the minimum amount of information a person needs to know in order to drive in public.

While great strides are being made to limit the number of teens in a car at once and stricter curfews are being enforced in many areas, teens are social creatures and are extremely resourceful. Many kids, even the "good kids," are just that. Kids. By nature they push parental, social and sometimes legal boundaries. It doesn't make them bad people, but it doesn't make them safe drivers either...

Before you allow your child to test, spend every possible minute you can with your child behind the wheel. When the weather is bad, let them drive! When conditions aren't optimal, let them drive! When traffic is bumper-to-bumper, let them drive. On highways, in cities, at night and daytime, LET THEM DRIVE!

Chart their hours behind the wheel. Doctors spend years under the supervision of others before they can legally practice on their own. And this is after years of training and advanced education. If a doctor makes a mistake, she may cause injury to one person. On a busy day, the number of people seen by a doctor is less than the number of people who share the road with a teen driver on her way to school. One mistake by any driver can cause countless damage, but statistics have shown mistakes are most likely to occur with a teen driver.

Only when you know first-hand how your teen will handle certain stressful situations behind the wheel and after they have satisfied YOUR requirements for driving safely should you, as her number one advocate, allow her to test for her licence. Set your standards high and don't budge! Of course you cannot prevent every accident but arm your child with your wisdom and send her out knowing you have put her through rigorous training. Only then, when your gut says she's ready, should you let her test.

Also, prayer can't hurt...

Learn more about this author, C.C. Ferguson.
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