Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Stages

How to make sure your teen’s driving behavior doesn’t leave you feeling worried

Help your teen be safe behind the wheel with these teen driving behaviors

Dannielle Beardsley
By

If you have a teen who’s learning how to drive or just starting to drive, we give you our full support. Whether you leave the driving lessons to a professional or take it on yourself, your teenager is going to become another person on the road that has to figure out how to get through a roundabout. It’s natural to have anxiety about your teen driving. That’s why we are helping you come up with teen driving behaviors that will keep everyone safe on the road.

A teen boy at the wheel with parent watching
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You have to watch your own driving

What might be even scarier to you is that your teen has been watching how you drive for years. That whole “do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work here. If you keep grabbing for your phone, messing with the radio, or looking at everything but the road, your teen is paying attention to that.

Recommended Videos

This is all about having integrity. Drive how you would want your child to drive. That way, when you are in the passenger seat and they reach for their phone, you’ll be able to hit them with the “no phone while driving” and they won’t be able to throw back at you that they see you do it.

Related

Teach them about defensive driving

These days, if you aren’t watching what the other cars are doing, you’re more likely to get into an accident. While you should teach your child what defensive and offensive driving are, and for teens who don’t have a lot of experience on the road, defensive is better.

There are pros and cons to both, but if your teen is already nervous about driving, and you’re worried about how they’ll do on the road, defensive driving is a good place to start. If you’re personally an offensive driver, explain to your child why you are. When they become more comfortable behind the wheel and have their safe driving routine soundly in place, they can pick which one they are, or what mix of the two styles they like.

Teen girl driver fastening her seatbelt

The basic driving rules will always reign supreme

While a lot of us don’t stick to the old “10 and 2” or the new “9 and 3” way to hold the steering wheel, there are rules that no matter their driving style, your teen should have committed to memory.

  • Turn signals aren’t an option
  • The speed limit isn’t voluntary
  • Seatbelts are the only belt you have to wear
  • Take care of your car like you do your phone (or better)

These are only a few but crucial basics that everyone — no matter who is driving and no matter who is in the car — follows at all times.

It’s a wonderful thing that your teen is driving. They’ll be able to take themselves to and from school, help out with errands, and on days when you just don’t want to drive, your teen will play taxi for you while you relax in the passenger seat. Maybe not completely relax — but if you make sure to talk about these teen driving behaviors with your child, you should be able to keep your eyes open.

Editors' Recommendations

Dannielle Beardsley
Dannielle Beardsley
Contributor
Dannielle has written for various websites, online magazines, and blogs. She loves everything celebrity and her favorite…
How you should discipline a teen for vaping
Here are some tips for dealing with vaping teenagers
Teen vaping outside

Ah, adolescence. That time of awkward growth, confusing feelings, and unstoppable urges to try new things. It's also the time when many are influenced by peer pressure to try things that aren't good for them, like vaping. Unfortunately, teens as young as 13 are trying vaping at least once, while some tweens are already into vaping. If you've discovered your teen is vaping and you're not sure what to do, it's easy to worry and immediately think of ways to punish your child, even though it's hard to know what an appropriate punishment for vaping is.

Teen vaping has spiraled out of control with middle and high schools dealing with vaping issues in restrooms and elsewhere on school grounds. As parents, we need to be concerned about teen vaping because of the chemicals it exposes kids to, as well as the likelihood of nicotine addiction. Then, there's the rise in lung injury related to an illness associated with vaping. It's important teens understand the risks of vaping, which is where finding an appropriate punishment comes in.

Read more
What is normal teen sexual behavior? We’ve got answers to help you understand your teenager
When you should start talking to your teens about sex
Two teenagers on a date outside

Parenting teens is not for the faint of heart! Exploring sexuality is a normal part of growing up, especially as kids progress through their teenage years. Although it may be uncomfortable for parents to discuss sex behavior with their teens, being educated about typical sexual development and what teens may be hearing from their peers is important. Parents should be able to talk openly with their child about protection, consent, risk reduction, and other issues.
Teens will be talking about sex and exploring this new part of their lives eventually and it's perfectly natural. Having your head in the sand won't make it go away, so the information below will prepare you with information to tackle this new stage of parenting.

Puberty
The onset of puberty is what can start the beginning of this stage of life for teens, but it doesn't mean they're ready for sex; just that they may start experiencing sexual thoughts like crushes or urges like feeling aroused. On average, puberty begins between ages 8 and 14.

Read more
Is your toddler hitting others? What you can do to stop this bad behavior
If you have a toddler hitting others, here's how to get through it, what to do, and what not to do as a parent
Toddler boy crying

When a toddler hits, it throws parents for a loop. It is especially stressful when a toddler hits others for no reason they see or hits another child at day care. You might find yourself wondering what could be going on with your little one. But as babies grow from infants to toddlers, they develop more emotions and opinions. And though it seems like the toddler is hitting for no reason, the truth is it often becomes a way for them to express those emotions.
While toddlers hitting others could be a scary stage for a child and parent, there are ways to work through it together. We'll go over why your toddler is hitting other kids, how to get them to stop, and what parents need to remember during this stage in your child's life.

A few reasons why your child will hit
They see others doing it
Hitting is a learned behavior. Perhaps a sibling is hitting your toddler at home, and your toddler is turning around and doing it to other kids at day care (or vice versa). As adults, we know this behavior isn’t nice. We want to convey that to our children so they don’t hit at day care, home, or anywhere.
There is a language barrier
“[Toddlers] have very low impulse control because they are just babies, and they are learning how to control their body and emotions,” said Ann McKitrick, M.S., an early childhood specialist and founder of Nurtured Noggins. “They simply don’t have the words yet to express what they want to express. A hit expresses what they feel in a very effective way … they are learning that they have a little bit of personal power.”
Toddlers understand words, but they don’t always know how to use them. “Their receptive vocabulary is high,” McKitrick said. “Their expressive vocabulary is not.” McKitrick suggests teaching your child sign language (or finding a day care that does this as many will). Learning signs for words like stop, no, and angry helps toddlers communicate more productively and stops them from hitting.

Read more