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By Greg Bartlett

Teen drivers, the bane of every parent.  Most parents are or at least should be concerned when their teenager borrows the car for an evening out.  Car accidents are, after all, the leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers.  But what can parents do in order to permit their teens to still be free to do their activities while not endangering themselves or passengers?  After all, isn’t one of the benefits of your teen getting a driver’s license that the teenager no longer has to depend on you to drive him or her everywhere?

There are steps parents can take to help reduce the likelihood of accidents, such as driver’s ed, curfews so the teens don’t drive during dangerous times, and reminding the teens of safety issues.  The “little” things like wearing a seat belt or speeding can make a huge difference in a teen’s life.

But even despite your precautions, what happens if your son decides to take some of his friends out for pizza, and the peer pressure makes your son want to show off rather than follow your instructions?  Just a little bit of speeding, and your son and his friends might end up in the hospital, or even the morgue.  Or what if your daughter decides to sneak out after curfew?  How will you know to stop her until it’s too late?

Teenage Drivers & GPS

GPS tracking is one option parents can use to help ensure the safety of their teenage drivers.  When a car is equipped with a GPS tracking unit, the unit will monitor the car’s activities.  Parents can get a report of their teen’s driving activities so that they know how fast the teen has been driving or if the teen has been out after curfew.  While this won’t stop teens from unsafe driving, it can alert parents to problem areas that need to be addressed.  Better yet, some GPS tracking units will even alert the parent via a text message, email, or phone call the instant the car exceeds a certain speed or is driven during restricted hours, allowing you to stop the problematic behavior immediately and hopefully prevent an accident.

Driving is an important part of your teens’ lives, and of course you want to give them the freedom to drive themselves around – so long as they’re safe.  If you add GPS tracking to your other precautions, such as education and curfews, you can help ensure that your teens are not another accident statistic.