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One of the most traumatic days for any parent is the day when a teenager gets behind the wheel of a car for the first time. Almost every parent experiences worry and fear at some level for their son or daughter’s safety. Many parents are concerned about the potential injury that can be caused by other drivers around their children. But a number of parents fear that their teen’s inexperience and immaturity will turn them into the hazard. To deal with their fears that their own children may be driving poorly or recklessly, some parents use GPS technology to track the vehicles that their teens drive. This has been met with quite a bit of controversy.

One device used for parental tracking is called the Trackstick Mini GPS. This isn’t a direction-finder like a TomTom or Garmin. Instead, the Trackstick Mini sends a signal that users can use to track vehicle speed and location. The device logs movements and parents can use a computer program that plots their children’s driving on a Google Maps image. For many parents, this is a relief. It allows them to know that their son or daughter is driving safely and, if not, it gives them accurate information to correct poor driving. Parents see the Trackstick as a tool that allows them to raise their children well and ensure their children’s safety.

However, many people respond that this kind of tracking is an invasion of teens’ privacy. They call the Trackstick Mini “a spy device” and claim that teenagers deserve privacy away from their parents’ watchful eyes. They sometimes argue that a parent and teen relationship should be governed by trust, not by spying. Opponents sometimes admit that such tracking would be helpful, but they believe that privacy concerns trump safety.

People on both sides of this debate offer powerful arguments for their cases. Opponents of the Trackstick decry “secret spying,” while those in favor proclaim its safety benefits. Many parents are using this device with a balanced perspective: they make sure their teens know about the tracking device and keep their trust by not secretly spying on them. Of course, the bottom line for this debate is that every home is different. This should not be settled by laws and regulations, but by allowing each family to work together and decide what works best in their own home.

Article Written by Mark Rammel

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When teaching me how to drive as a teenager, I remember my father leaning over next to me and saying, “it is not you I’m worried about. It’s those people.” You know the ones. Drivers who careen through a red light while it’s barely pink, take the on ramp going 70, or pass through four lanes of dense highway traffic without a turn signal. For drivers all over the country, the newest iPhone app, which rates the driving of its owner using GPS tracking, motivates feelings of relief and hope for a safer driving tomorrow.

Sponsored by State Farm Insurance, the Driver Feedback application uses the accelerometer in the iPhone as well as a GPS locator system to determine a driver’s affinity for risky driving maneuvers such as hard acceleration or deceleration and abrupt swerves. Judging from these three areas during a given road trip, an overall rating is provided to the driver. By analyzing the results provided from trip to trip the driver can then evaluate his progress on the road. If he consistently receives a dismal score, he should take the hint that he needs to work on his driving skills.

While the latest GPS tracking application certainly has its effectiveness, this seemingly innocent novelty has met with a mild degree of resistance. After all, isn’t cell phone use marking the top of the charts for driver distraction? However well-meaning, drivers who choose to use the Driver Feedback application while driving are making matters worse by removing their attention from the road. It is thus highly recommended that iPhone users avoid checking their progress during the course of their road trips. Instead, exercise patience and wait until you come to a stop before peaking at the results.

Reckless driving is among the top causes of car accidents in America. With 2 million accidents and more than 13,000 deaths annually caused by drivers who care more for a thrill than for the safety of others, it’s about time that someone did something. While the Driver Feedback app cannot prevent drivers from recklessness on the road, it can at least alert them to their poor driving habits. Perhaps it will motivate them to remedy their selfish ways. Even if only a few lives are saved by this GPS tracking-based application, it will be well worth the effort.

Article Written by Janice Grover

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It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: the midnight call jars you awake, and the police are on the other end of the line to inform you that your teenage driver has been in a car accident. In such a situation, a parent has to face the moment and hope and pray their child came through the accident safe. However, we parents with children encroaching on the new driver’s license stage will want to make sure we never answer such a frightening midnight call.

How do we do this? With proper safety precautions and accident prevention. Teach your child safe driving skills, have clear lines of communication, hold them accountable, and use GPS Car Tracking to help provide the needed accountability to accomplish your goals.

GPS Trackers Keep Kids Safe

Although initially greeted with some wariness, GPS trackers are quickly gaining acceptance and commendation in the movement for safer teen driving. Even marketing companies and schools are getting on the bandwagon. Some programs feature a combined effort between tracking companies and schools that include a fundraising program with opportunities for student involvement and sales, all while providing tracking devices for new drivers.

As companies and schools taking notice of GPS car tracking, parents can’t stay far behind. How do these devices benefit our lives and help us keep our children safe? Simply put, the devices do what you can’t, as they can monitor the situation, no matter where your child drives. The technology can notify you if your child drives too fast, doesn’t stop for a stop sign, or drives to a forbidden location. The tracking devices give you a tie to your child’s driving, even if you can’t be present.

GPS Tracking Choices

There are two types of tracking: passive or active. A passive car tracker records information in a log of sorts that you can review should a concern arise. Active car tracking, on the other hand, allows you to stay updated on your teenage driver’s movements in a real-time environment. The type of updates you choose will depend on our own personal needs.

Of course, there’s always the thought that you will probably never need such a device, and you wonder if tracking is a wise use of funds. However, you wouldn’t ride in a ship without escape rafts merely because you thought the ship wouldn’t sink. Rather, you prepare for the possibilities. Be smart; keep your teenage driver safe.

Article Written by Greg Bartlett

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By Greg Bartlett

Few moments in a parent’s life cause more pride and at the same time more trepidation as the first time a teenager takes the car out for a solo drive. Watching your child maneuver the car down the street carefully observing each driving rule he has learned can cause your heart to swell with pride and accomplishment. Yet the knowledge that your teen has only a few hours of driving experience under his belt can also cause you to pace the floor until he returns safely home. Hazards abound, and your teen may not have the experiential know-how to avoid them. Apart from requiring your teen to check in every 15 minutes, how can you put your mind at ease as to his safety and whereabouts? GPS vehicle tracking provides peace of mind for those long nights when your son or daughter is out with friends in the family car.

Teen Driver Safety

In the United States, over 4,500 teenagers die from vehicle crash injuries each year. An additional 400,000 teens receive injuries in car crashes. As many as 30% of these crashes are alcohol related. As frightening as these statistics are, they are not inevitable. Many accidents involving teen drivers could have been avoided had a more experienced driver been behind the wheel. GPS vehicle tracking can serve as a springboard for talking to your teen about safe driving habits. If you know each place your teen has been, how fast he has been driving, and how many stops he made, you can formulate a strategy for helping your teen understand the dangers of the road and how best to avoid them.

Teens need to assert their independence. It’s part of cutting the apron strings and making their way in the world. Driving plays a large role in this process, and teens need the support of their parents. Being a supportive parent, however, does not mean being a helpless one. Vehicle tracking systems allow you to take a more active role in monitoring your teen’s driving habits. It could even save his life.

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By Greg Bartlett

My younger brother is a dangerous driver. I wasn’t joking when I told people to stay off the roads when he got his permit. Knocking over trashcans, scraping mailboxes, riding up on curbs, pulling into the parking space a little too far: teenage drivers do it all. And unless there’s visible damage to the car itself, they see no need to tell their parents about it.

Teen Driver Safety

No wonder so many parents are concerned for the safety of their teenage drivers. But using new vehicle tracking devices, parents can know every movement that their teenagers make in the car. Parents are willing to shell out a little extra every month in exchange for the peace of mind that their teenager is following the driving rules they set up.

The programs that come with vehicle tracking devices might not be able to point out that your teenager hit a mailbox when he backed out of the driveway a little too sharply, but you would be able to see his location and that he started to back out and had to pull in a little and try again. Little movements like this would show what your teenage driver needs to work on. Parents with inexperienced teenage drivers may not be able to prevent the mistakes caused by their young people, but using vehicle tracking devices, they can be sure that their teens learn from their mistakes.

However, these programs can’t do everything. For example, the devices can’t check for drinking and driving, but you will be able to tell if your teen is driving in a reckless manner. There is obviously not guarantee that your teenager will be safe while in the car, but these devices can definitely improve the situation in a variety of ways.

Many vehicle tracking devices track speeding and can even monitor whether or not the teen is using his seatbelt. Parents can also get text message alerts sent to their cell phone if their teen exceeds a certain speeding or drives out of or into a predetermined area. This allows the parents to be reassured that their teen is staying out of trouble and following the rules. Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death among young people. Parents should do everything they can to decrease the number of teens killed in car crashes every year.

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Recently, an online article highlighted the ways in which parents can keep track of teens using a GPS tracking device. In one scenario, a teenager took the new car out for a spin while his parent was out of town. A brand new car, especially a sporty one (as this one was) is very tempting to a teenager who know believe that they are not being supervised. The teen’s father was on a business trip, but was fully aware of what was going on thanks to the GPS tracking device he has installed his vehicle. He was informed that his son had gone above the speed limit and that this was done in an area that was much farther from home than the teen was allowed to travel.

This father took matters into his own hands from thousands of miles away and shut down the ignition, once the car had arrived at its destination. Now some child-rearing experts say that the use of GPS tracking to monitor teen driving habits should not become punitive. You may ask—what it the point of finding out that your teen is doing something dangerous and not punishing them?

Well, we are not here to tell you how to raise your children; we just want to provide you with technological assistance to help you keep them safe. It is up to you to decide the best way to make use of the information you get from employing a GPS tracking device.

Visit Rocky Mountain Tracking online to peruse GPS tracking devices designed to keep parents informed of their teenagers’ driving habits.

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Spring is here. Birds are chirping. It is getting warmer outside and the great outdoors beckons more now than it has for the last few months.

Prom and graduation season will be upon us before we know it. And if you are the parents of a teenager, you may already be hearing about your child’s plans to enjoy the warm weather and the company of friends.

No matter how wise your teen may seem, they are not yet ready to take on all of the responsibility of adulthood on their own. They still need you to provide guidance, no matter how much they protest that they are ready to take on the world by themselves.

GPS tracking devices are not difficult to install or use and they are a great way to give your child some freedom and give you some piece of mind. Tracking devices that monitor speed and seatbelt use can make all the difference in a young person’s life and in the life of their family. They give parents the ability to step in if they feel that their teen is not practicing safe driving habits.

And then there is that matter of where your teen may actually be going…GPS teen tracking devices can also provide information on where a vehicle has traveled and when.

It is possible that installing a tracking devices is the only step you need to take. Some teen drviers will be unwilling to take the risk of breaking the rules or driving in an unsafe manner if they know that their parents will find out. For others, the GPS auto tracker will give parents vital information that will allow them to take necessary steps to keep their child safe.

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You know the classic scene—a driver gets pulled over for speeding. They sigh, slow down, and pull over. A police officer exits a squad car, taps on the driver’s side window, and asked that famous question, “Do you have any idea how fast you were going back there?” Answers may vary from “ I don’t know, officer” to giving an excuse for why the speed is so necessary to making up a number.

But what if you didn’t have to make up a number? What if you could give an accurate answer? That might help some drivers and hurt others, depending on their actual speed.

One father is attempting to prove that his son was not speeding by using evidence gathered from the GPS tracking device he placed in his son’s car. The main purpose of the device was for the parents to stay informed about their son’s whereabouts and to monitor his speed, but now it may be put to another use.

As new technology enters our lives, we have to find ways to deal with how we apply it and how we govern ourselves in relation to new machines and gadgets. Cases like this set new precedents for how speeding tickets are contested.

There are any number of reasons that could account for why the GPS recorded a legal speed, while the officer’s radar gun recorded something above the speed limit. In one possible scenario, the calibration for the radar gun that the officer used was not exact.

The case has not been decided so it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

In the meantime, the father involved stressed that he and his wife did not put the GPS device in their son’s car to avoid traffic tickets. Their goal was to encourage their teen to be a careful driver. He actually hopes that the attention that this case has received will get other parents thinking about using GPS technology to keep teen drivers safe and on the right side of the law.

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