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May 14, 2012

USA Today -- Parents Urged to Talk, Make Contract With Their Teen Drivers

USA Today -- In this informative read from Larry Copeland, the important role of parental involvement in the teen driving process, from the permit phase through independent driving, is discussed. Citing the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day as the "100 deadliest for teen drivers" by AAA and Volvo,the article encourages  parents to start the conversation about safe driving and passenger behavior well before their teens get behind the wheel. Dennis R. Durbin, M.D., co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), shares the fact that he started talking to his son, Jack, when he was 13 about safe driving to increase his awareness and to explain what is happening in a series of narrations. These "conversations,"  Dr. Durbin stresses, should continue even after teens are driving alone since they are at their highest lifetime risk of crashing during the first six to 12 months of independent driving. The article also reminds parents to follow and enforce Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws to reduce crash risk. Components of GDL include not texting or talking on a cell phone and  limiting the number of peer passengers a novice teen driver may carry.