Teen Safety Features – Do You Think They Help Or Hinder Teen Drivers?

Seth Smiley here from the Smiley Law Firm with today’s edition of the Parents of Teen Drivers Facebook Group. Today’s topic is essential, “Teen Safety Features – Do You Think They Help Or Hinder Teen Drivers?”

Many of the top automated features are pre-installed into a vehicle to help keep your teen drivers safer when they are on the road. We deal with many of these during regular driving, they are popular with adults, and they have potentially life-saving aspects for teens.The conventional wisdom is that they are a good thing, but I read an article that suggested teens should learn to drive without all of these bells and whistles. Teens tend to become complacent and rely on too much technology, which can lead to trouble.

The safety features can be for later. Wouldn’t you like your teen to be on the road and know how to do everything, even without the latest technology? An excellent example of this is the rear backup camera. They are now in every single car. Wouldn’t it be better for your teens to learn to drive without it? It might make them a better driver. They shouldn’t be relying 100% on the camera as there are other things to be looking out for. Another very positive safety feature is the buckle to drive. It is cool as it won’t let them put the vehicle into gear until they buckle up. We are our habits, and this helps enforce a positive one.

Cruise control has been around for a while, and it’s a functional, useful device. It is getting smarter these days so that it will speed up and slow down with traffic. In some cars it has other helpful functions such as stopping for stop signs, etc. It is an example of something helpful, but it may lead to the teen relying too much on technology. Some of the self-driving cars coming out don’t always have sufficient awareness of what is going on. I have experience with this. Sometimes they slow down fast for no good reason. You don’t want your teen entirely relying on those features.

The change lane alert is a fantastic addition. Blind spots have always been an issue. As personal injury lawyers, we meet many people getting into accidents due to blind spots. The change lane alert helps with this issue as it beeps whenever somebody is in your blind spot to let you know not to sneak over. Emergency braking is good for people who get distracted, and it will stop the car to prevent an accident. It will be good going forward to prevent rear-end collisions, etc. It is also an example of something that you don’t want to rely on while learning to drive. What happens if technology fails? We then have another type of lawsuit on our hands.

There are also speed warnings, speed limiters, and audio limits. One other cool thing I saw was they have a report card for during and after the teen is finished driving. It will include the distance, the speed driven, how much has is used, acceleration, and other general data. In many cases, these reports can be texted or emailed to the parents. There is lots of nifty information and a lot of cool technology available, but the question is, what is working in the real world?

As mature drivers, we know what we like, but we trained differently. Should we ensure our teens learn to drive the old school way? Would it make you feel safer for your teen to learn without the technology, or should it be used from the beginning? We need to develop good, responsible drivers going forward. We love to hear about your experiences, so please let us have your thoughts about “Teen Safety Features “Do You Think They Help Or Hinder Teen Drivers?” Technology is developing all of the time, and we need to decide how best to use it when our teens learn to drive.