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Motor vehicle crash rates are
higher for teens than for members of any other age
group. High crash rates among teen drivers are
attributed to their young age, lack of driving
experience, and propensity for risky behaviors.
Crash risk is greatest during the first two years of
driving, is particularly elevated during the first
months of driving, and is disproportionately high at
night and with teen passengers. Delaying licensure
and imposing restrictions on driving privileges
after licensure can reduce teen driver crash risk.
While graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs have
delayed access to full licensure, provided policy
restrictions on high-risk driving conditions after
licensure, and reduced teens’ crash rates, enhanced
parental management of teens ’ early driving has
potential to further reduce teens’ risk of injury in
motor vehicle crashes. The Checkpoints Program was
created by Dr. Bruce Simons-Morton of the National
Institute for Child Health and Human Development to
help facilitate parental management of teen driving
during the early stages of licensure.
Parents can play an important role in risk
prevention by setting and reinforcing limits on
high-risk driving conditions during early
independent driving. Greater parental restrictions
have been associated with better teen driving safety
outcomes. Research has shown that nearly all parents
set limits on novice teenagers, but these limits are
not strict and not maintained long enough for teens
to gain valuable driving experience under relatively
less dangerous conditions. Parents’ driving
restrictions have been more related to trip
conditions (i.e., where the teen is going and when
returning) than to high-risk driving conditions,
such as driving at night and with teen passengers.
Restrictions on high-risk conditions decline rapidly
in the year after licensing.
The Checkpoints Program was designed to increase
parental limits on novice teen independent driving
under high-risk conditions. The program is based on
the protection motivation theory and uses persuasive
communication techniques supported by various
combinations of a video, newsletters, booklets, and
facilitated discussions to encourage parents to use
the program’s driving agreement with their teens.
The Checkpoints Parent-Teen Driving Agreement (PTDA)
is designed to facilitate clear rule-setting on
driving privileges during the first year of
independent driving. The goal is for parents and
teens to negotiate an agreement on limits related to
driving at night, with passengers, on high-speed
roads, and in inclement weather. The Checkpoints
PTDA includes four periods of several months each,
allowing for a gradual increase in driving
privileges. The Checkpoints Program has been
implemented successfully in different settings and
at different points in the licensing process.
Several randomized control trials have been
conducted to evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness
of the Checkpoints Program. Significant treatment
effects of the Checkpoints Program have been found
on parent and teen risk perception, parent outcome
expectations for parental limits, communication
about driving, parental limit setting, and teens’
risky driving behavior and traffic violations.
University of Michigan Transportation Research
Institute
2010
Visit their
website:
saferdrivingforteens.org
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