Not So Fast
Parenting Your Teen Through the Dangers of Driving
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Providing advice to parents, guardians, and other adults who supervise teen drivers about the critical decisions that must be made before getting behind the wheel of a car, this book will help empower and guide parents of the more than three million teens obtaining new driver’s licenses annually in the United States. Author and parent Tim Hollister proves that supervision before driving is every bit as important to lowering crash rates as teaching teens how to turn at a busy intersection. Parents will learn priceless information in teaching teenagers how to evaluate the circumstances of every driving trip, how to be able to say “no” when necessary, how to prepare a “flight plan” for each drive, and how to put safety before convenience. Parents will also benefit by understanding the real dangers and risks in teen driving by recognizing the limits of driver training programs and will thus become more informed and proactive in their supervisory role. Proceeds from sales will support a memorial fund—set up in honor of Hollister’s son, Reid, who was killed in an automobile accident in 2006—which subsidizes infant and toddler education in greater Hartford, Connecticut, and other worthy traffic safety causes.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hollister, whose son, Reid, was killed in a 2006 car crash at age 17, subsequently served on a Connecticut task force on teen driving laws, and has become a national spokesperson and blogger on the subject of safer teen driving. This book, he notes, is "unique and somewhat odd," as it doesn't address how to teach a teen to drive. Nevertheless, it's an invaluable resource for parents, with a focus on ample supervision and risk control. Hollister explains why there is "no such thing" as a safe teen driver; the adolescent brain is not fully developed a reality that only experience and physical growth can remedy. However, there are steps that parents can take to lessen the hazards. For instance, parents can insist upon purposeful driving and a designated route (rather than joy riding), limit or prohibit passengers, share the family car rather than letting the teen have her own, and create a Teen Driving Agreement (TDA) to clarify rules. Hollister helps parents determine whether their child is ready to drive (some states' teen driving laws are more lenient than others, so parents need to step up) and provides pro-active steps to ensure that safety comes first. This concise, practical, and potentially life-saving book should be required reading for every parent before their teen gets behind the wheel.
