No points for guessing that it is more the adrenalin rush that we are all chasing than practicing safe driving. This has nothing to do with gender or age – even teens are following the footsteps and the numerous cases of rash or negligent driving and accidents are all a reason of this. Blame it on the Fast and Furious movie inspiration or whatever, teen driving has actually become precarious and parents are worrying over the safety of their kids.
What lead to teen car crashes?
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed that distracted driving is the major culprit of teen car crashes and the most common types of distractions which lead to accidents include
- Talking to fellow passengers
- Mobile phone usage mainly texting and calling while driving
- Singing music
- Looking for something inside the car
- Staring at other cars on the road
- Gawking at attractive billboards and ads on the sides of the road
However, the scariest part that sends chill through parents’ spines is that teen drivers rarely learn their lessons from any previous accident they may have met with. This leaves the onus of their safety on their parents. Besides encouraging safe driving habits in the kids, do parents have more options to explore? Well, with technology on your side, you certainly do. You don’t have to make any big investments while ensuring this safety; all you need to do is check out the tech solutions shared below to pick your choice of app to help you…
Best gadgets and apps to encourage safe driving
Teen Driver by Chevrolet
Kids ape their parents; so practice safe driving yourself. Also, if you’re planning to get home a Chevrolet Malibu, you can make the most of the General Motors in-car driving system installed here, Teen Driver. Teen Driver is designed make teens drive safely, especially when parents are not traveling along. A first in the industry, this in-car safety technology is designed in a way so that “parents could use it as a teaching tool with their kids, they can discuss and reinforce safe driving habits,” said MaryAnn Beebe, the safety engineer of General Motors and also a mother of two.
To enable Teen Driver in cars, parents need creating a PIN under Settings in MyLink system. Then, they can activate the settings to use registered key fobs of kids. Once enabled, this system will silence the radio when safety belts are attached. Additionally, it can adjust and lower the volume too. The system offers a gamut of tracking options including distance covered, maximum speed limit, etc. It also alerts you for exceeding permitted speed, incidences of Antilock brake, incidences of stability control, forward collision and forward collision braking.
Top safety features of Teen Driver include –
- Stability Control
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- Side Blind Zone Alert
- Front and Rear Park Assist
- Daytime Running Lamps
- Automatic Light Control
- Forward Collision Alert
- Traction Control
- Forward Collision Braking
- Front Pedestrian Braking
Remote Text Blockers
Since mobile phone usage tops the list of distractions leading to fatal teen car crashes, you surely can’t give these text blockers a miss! There are many free apps, which actually allow parents to control and block texts on iPhones. Some apps which are notably efficient in this genre are –
- DriveMode app by AT&T mutes text alerts, turns on notification feature when the speed is not more than 15 to 20 kmph, and also sends auto-reply to messages received while driving stating that the driver is busy and cannot reply. As soon as the DriveMode is deactivated, parents are notified. This app is compatible with both iOS and Android.
- Drive First of Sprint is a similar app but it is only compatible with Android phones. When the Drive First mode is turned on, only preset ‘VIP numbers’ can call your teen and the rest will be rejected automatically.
- Verizon users can opt for similar safe driving benefits on their phone using Safely Go app.
- If your phone doesn’t yet have these abovementioned safe driving tools, you can still install third-party apps such as Safe Driving Text Machine, Text or Drive, Safe Driver, No Texting While Driving and DriveSafe.ly.
Canary app
Another safe driving app called Canary is hugely popular among parents. Why? Simply because it tells them when their kids are exceeding brake rules or speed limit. The app also sends email alerts to parents when a teen driver tries unlocking the cell phone to call or text, when a kid leaves a stipulated location, and even when they begin an unsafe driving action. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices.
Onboard Data II port (OBDII)
Onboard Data II port (OBDII) gadgets are handy in-car gadgets that share with you details of your teen’s driving behavior. These devices fetch elaborate data on people your kids are driving with, the speed at which the kids are driving, spots technical problems with the car (if any), and also sends car servicing reminder. Some of these OBDII devices also allow parents to remotely control the cell phone usage habits of kids.
There are two types of OBDII gadgets that you can opt for. You can select automatic devices that pair with an app installed on your teen’s phone or use devices such as Mojio or Zubie, While the former connects with GPS and mobile data connection to transmit driving details, the latter uses built-in GPS and wireless connection to send similar data for monitoring teen driving. Aren’t these tools handy? Don’t miss to let us know the one that worked for you….
