Wide Gap between Teens, Parents in GDL Compliance

No Burbank car accident lawyer would deny the fact that California‘s strict graduated driver licensing program has been responsible for reducing the number of teenage drivers injured or killed in accidents every year. However, new research finds that there are wide differences in the way teenagers and parents view compliance with these rules.

According to the results of the study, which were released recently by insurer State Farm, teens seem to find it easy to get away without complying with many of the restrictions that are outlined under GDL programs, while parents overestimate their own ability to track and monitor their children’s driving habits.

According to the results of the study, for instance, 87% of the parents believed that their children would follow GDL restrictions because of parental monitoring. However, just 56% of teenagers admitted that they would obey those provisions.

Even more startling was the wide parent-teen gap when it comes to critical nighttime driving and passenger restrictions. Many successful Graduated Driver Licensing Programs, including the one in California imposes strict restrictions on teenagers driving with teen passengers in the car, as well as restrictions on the amount of driving novice drivers can do at night. This is mainly targeted at helping reduce the risk of accidents in these dangerous situations. According to the study, approximately 55% of the parents claim that they monitor their children’s driving habits to ensure that their children are not driving at night or driving with teenage passengers. However, just 27% of teenagers said that their parents bothered to monitor them.

The results of these studies seem to indicate that parents need to take Graduated Driver’s Licensing Programs more seriously, and get more involved in monitoring their children’s driving habits.