It's Teen Driving Safety Week (Oct. 18-24)
As a mom of a teen who is now driving, I know what it's like to wonder and worry about what's going on in the car when my child is behind the wheel. As a typical teen, he's tied to his cell phone and I know the temptation to text and talk while driving is huge. Then there's the fact that his cell is a GPS, but he has to read it (it doesn't talk out loud), add friends in the car and it's a recipe for disaster.

As it's Teen Driving Safety Week, a number of companies and organizations have put together resources to help you turn your teen into a safe driver.

American Family Insurance has partnered with MTV and Mindshare Entertainment to reach teenagers through a a five-episode series, "The Road to the Woodies," in which a teenage driver navigates closed-course obstacles and typical teen distractions to improve her driving skills using American Family Insurance's proprietary Teen Safe Driver program.

The reality-based microseries features Lauren, a typical teenager, as she completes four driving challenges on a closed course to prove to her family that she is a safe and responsible driver. If successful, she wins tickets to the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards in New York City. The challenges will air in four two-minute segments premiering Oct. 28 during MTV's "The Ruins." As she navigates the course, Lauren is tested by surprise calls and texts from her family and friends while driving, and she also receives highway driving tips from experts like 2006 Indy Pro champion, Jay Howard. All the while, Lauren's parents will view her driving "report card"' through Teen Safe Driver's unique in-vehicle video and audio unit that captures risky driving behaviors and provides expert analysis and coaching tips.

To encourage family communication about safe driving during National Teen Driver Safety Week  Liberty Mutual Insurance created new tools  that help facilitate responsible driving conversations between parents and teens.

"Nearly 60 percent of high school students say their parents are the biggest influence on their driving," said Dave Melton, a driving safety expert with the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. "Open communication about responsible driving makes teens more confident on the road and parents more comfortable with entrusting their teens with the family car."

Liberty Mutual's new online tools are designed to spark family discussions about the importance of safe driving. Chief among these is a customizable Family Ground Rules tool that provides a framework for parents and teens to set and agree to specific rules around key safe driving issues such as speeding, the number of passengers in the car, cell phone usage, texting while driving and curfews. Upon acceptance, these ground rules -- with mutually agreed upon rewards and consequences -- can be printed and posted on the refrigerator so parents and teens can refer back to them throughout the year.

The website also now features a Car Scheduler that enables teens to request a date and time when they would like to borrow the car. To further promote responsible driving conversations, teens are prompted to review and agree to their customized family safe driving rules before each request is submitted. "When parents and teens build their safe driving plans together, they avoid miscommunication and mismanaged expectations," said Stephen Wallace, SADD Chairman and CEO. "Although these tools live online, they are designed to prompt effective, face-to-face communication between teens and their parents, which we know leads to safer driving behaviors."

Finally, here are a few tips from ThinkBeforeYouDrive.org.
 

“Would you do it in the shower?" Ask yourself this question every time you start an activity behind the wheel. Would you eat, text, talk on the phone or change a CD in the shower? Then you probably shouldn't be doing it behind the wheel either, right?!
 
Know Point B. You should have a good idea of how to get to your destination before revving up the engine. There’s nothing more distracting than trying to follow directions when you’re driving down the freeway. Make sure to check weather and road conditions as well.
 
Manage your time so that you do not have to multi-task or drive aggressively on the road.
 
Save your concentration for the road, not a conversation. The road is not the place to have a serious conversation with your passengers. Check your emotions at the door as well. Give your child the tools then bring on the trust, mom. It's the best we can do. Is your teen driving? Tell us about it.

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