That Child Behind the Wheel

Parents of teenage drivers have long paced late at night and waited for texts that say, “Made it safely.”

Innovations in automobile technology now make it easier for parents to relax when their teen is on the road. Cars can be programmed to set limits that teens can’t get around — no matter how hard they try.

Related: Texting and Driving Put Us Over the Line

Every day, fatal traffic accidents happen — and many of them involve teen drivers. Just last week in China, a young driver with only her learner’s permit tragically killed herself, her father, and a friend after accidentally stepping on the accelerator instead of the brake — plunging their car into a canal in South China’s Guangdong Province.

Her sister, also in the car, was seriously injured.

This month alone, more than 360,000 teens in the U.S. will become eligible for a restricted driver’s license in most states, according to Chevrolet — making for at least that many anxious parents.

MaryAnn Beebe is a safety engineer for Chevy, and has been directly involved with designing the new teen driver technology that Chevy is making available in 10 of its 2017 cars, trucks, and SUVs.

[lz_infobox]The CDC says 2,163 teens in the U.S. age 16 to 19 were killed and 243,243 were treated in ERs for injuries suffered in car crashes in 2013. That translates to six teens killed every day from motor vehicle injuries in that age group.[/lz_infobox]

“I have three kids, so this is important to me personally,” Beebe told LifeZette. “I’ve been fortunate to have worked in safety for most of my career — but being a mom changes your perspective. The field data on teens and teen fatalities tell us they really are a high-risk group of drivers. They want to gain independence, but they need to make good choices, too.”

Chevrolet told LifeZette that according to a Harris Poll survey it commissioned, more parents with teens worry about their child’s driving (55 percent) than any other area of parental stress — including drugs and alcohol (52 percent), sexual activity (49 percent), and academic performance (53 percent).

“I would agree with that, although I worry about all those areas,” Boston-area mom of four Mary Ann Donaghey said. “I have three young drivers now and I am always praying for them to just be safe, not text, and focus on the road ahead.”

[lz_bulleted_list title=”Other Features Available in Teen Driver” source=”Chevrolet”]Front and rear park assist|Rear cross-traffic alert|Forward collision alert|Forward automatic braking|Rear automatic braking|Stability control|Traction control|Daytime running lamps/Automatic light control[/lz_bulleted_list]

Beebe said it’s important for teens to remember they are literally controlling tons of metal every time they start their car engine. “They’re out there with a piece of machinery, and that’s a scary thing. Vehicles can be capable of great harm — but at the same time we all need to use them, too.”

Advanced safety technologies and improved vehicle innovations are capable of eliminating a whopping 94 percent of fatal crashes involving human error, said Safecars.gov — which is too significant for today’s parents to ignore.

Chevrolet’s brand new Teen Driver service includes a “report card” for parents that shows how a teen drives the car — and opens up good discussions on best practices. For example, if a teen has been speeding, weaving, has significant braking events or has been tailgating another driver, those may be included in the driver report card (depending on the features that are activated). The report card can be accessed by parents right through the dashboard’s “info-tainment center.”

Teen Driver can mute the car radio when teens in the front seat aren’t belted. It can also give audible and visual warnings to the driver when the car is traveling faster than pre-set speeds — and even allows parents to set limits on radio volume.

To use the safety technology, a parent registers a teen’s key fob in the vehicle’s system settings. Teen Driver is activated when that fob is used.

Related: Far Fewer Teens Are Driving Today. What’s Up?

“These features are helpful technologies that can prevent a crash,” explained Beebe. “For example, ‘lane-keep assist’ is meant to help people from unintentionally drifting from lane to lane. It detects lane drifts using a front-camera module.”

With the “side blind zone” alert, when a vehicle is in your blind spot an icon in the side-view mirror lights up as an alert. “We have given a lot of thought to how can we make these features effective, without being annoying or distracting,” said Beebe. “We offer the option to have a seat vibration occur instead of an audio or visual warning, if that’s preferable.”

Parents who are interested in using technology as an assist to a teen driver should invest some research, time, and conversation with a reputable car seller to determine what features are right for their family.

“Once sold on the concept of these active safety systems,” noted Consumer Reports, “there remains the challenge in interpreting each manufacturer’s offerings, each with their own unique name, and then figuring out which trim and/or option is necessary to get the gear.”