Parental involvement is very important when it comes to teaching a teen to drive. Parents are the first teachers for young drivers and it is up to them to teach the kid the safe and responsible driving techniques.
The graduated drivers license that is currently employed in many states is just part of the process of shaping a new drivers. The program is designed to ensure that teenagers gain some driving experience and learn the rules of the road, but it does not replace parental influence.
The DMV in New York makes it very easy for parents to get involved in the process and help their teen to become a safe driver. Apart from providing numerous study materials, such as the study guides and driver handbooks, the state now also provides a contract that can be signed between a parent and the teen driver. The contract is included in the package students get when they receive their learners permit.
Each point of the contract opens with a fact or a statistic, that justifies this point and allows the teen to visualize what can happen if the contract is broken. Teenagers are a high risk group when it comes to driving and everyone, including themselves, know it. The contract is there to remind them that if they break the rules, they may not only lose their driving privilege, but they may also lose their lives.
