Parents role in teens' driving behaviour

Teenagers whose parents set and enforce clear rules for them in a helpful and supportive way are likely to be much safer drivers than those whose parents are not so supportive and involved.

Parental monitoring is known to help reduce the likelihood that adolescents will take risks like using drugs and alcohol, having sex, and engaging in delinquent and aggressive behaviour.

To explore the association between parenting style and driving behaviours, researchers from America looked at the 2006 National Young Driver Survey, including 5,665 ninth-, tenth- and eleventh-graders from across the US. Based on the adolescents' own description of their parents, the researchers divided them into four groups.

Half of the participants had authoritative parents, meaning their parents were high in support and high in rules and monitoring. Twenty-three percent had permissive parents, meaning they were supportive but set few rules; 8 percent had authoritarian parents, who were strict but not supportive; and 19 percent had uninvolved parents, who were neither supportive nor strict.

The researchers found that youngsters with authoritative parents were half as likely to have gotten in an accident in the past year and 71% less likely to say they'd driven while drunk as those with uninvolved parents,. These teens were also 29 percent less likely to admit to talking on their cell phones while driving. Children of both authoritative and authoritarian parents were almost twice as likely to use seat belts and half as likely to speed as those whose parents were uninvolved. It was also found that children with free rein over the car keys were twice as likely to have gotten into accidents as those whose parents were more restrictive.

The above findings highlight parent's role in controlling their children's driving behaviours. The researchers recommended parents to set rules to monitor teens' driving behaviours, which could be effective in preventing injuries and accidents.