There’s no getting away from the fact that young people are involved in more traffic accidents than any other age group. So, how can you encourage a young person to drive safely?
Let’s find out.
As you’ll probably already know, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting your first set of car keys. For many young people, it’s their first real opportunity to experience some independence as it opens up plenty of new choices.
Unfortunately, there are many dangers facing inexperienced drivers — especially those who don’t take it upon themselves to drive safely and responsibly after they pass their test. It’s a brutal truth that drivers under the age of 25 are responsible for 85 per cent of ‘serious injury’ road accidents and road traffic accident claims. This just goes to show how important it is to encourage young people to reassess their driving habits.
In this post, we’ll be outlining some of the best ways you can encourage a young person to drive safely, whether they’re your child, sibling, friend or partner.
Take a look!
How to Encourage a Young Person to Drive Safely
Convince Them to Install a Black box
A black box won’t automatically convince someone to start driving safely, but it does give them a certain level of incentive! If you don’t already know, black box car insurance uses a piece of telematics equipment to monitor and set a driver’s premiums based on their driving habits.
Driving in a safe and responsible manner (such as sticking to the speed limit and steering smoothly) will reduce insurance premiums. This makes it more financially viable to remain on the road.
Help Them to Buy a Sensible First Car
No two cars are the same, with some being much more difficult to drive than others, especially for novices. So, if you want to help encourage a young person to drive safely, then it’s certainly worth helping them to buy a sensible first car.
Even if you don’t know too much about cars, you can use simple metrics, such as engine capacity and the general size, to help determine which cars are likely to be easier and safer to drive. It’s also worth taking a look at insurance quotes, which also provide a good indication of whether a car is deemed to be a safe option for a young person.
Work with Them to Instil a Comfortable Technique
The techniques taught during driving lessons may not be the most comfortable or practical to use once someone has passed their driving test. That said, you should encourage someone to continue using these driving techniques to stay safe.
Use your own experience to make some suggestions too, and don’t be afraid to critique any techniques they have adopted if you believe they are unsafe. For example, only having one hand on the wheel or keeping the clutch down for too long (coasting) should be avoided.
Remind Them of the Financial Incentive
If you’ve been unfortunate enough to have been involved in a car accident, you know how expensive it can be. Driving safely is much cheaper than driving erratically and dangerously — that’s an indisputable fact!
Avoiding accidents also carries a long-term financial bonus — your annual insurance is likely to continue decreasing.
Encourage Them to Speak About Their Daily Driving Experiences
It’s important to take an active interest in a young person’s early driving experiences. If you know they went on a drive, be sure to ask them how it was and whether they came across any difficult scenarios on their travels.
By listening to what they have to say, you’ll likely be able to give them some pointers and subsequent confidence so that they can handle certain situations in the future.
Discuss the Real-Life Consequences of Irresponsible Driving
We all know how serious the consequences of irresponsible driving are, so it’s a good idea to remind the young person in question about them. You don’t need to get into gory detail, but it’s always worth setting out how serious the consequences could be if someone doesn’t drive with due care.
Offer Simple Rewards for Good Driving
Sometimes, positive reinforcement is the best way of encouraging a young person to drive responsibly. If you offer small, simple rewards for hitting certain milestones without incidents, this might be the exact incentive they need.
The reward doesn’t have to be extravagant — a simple practice you could follow is to offer to pay for their petrol bill at the end of the month.
Only Let Them Drive Independently After They Prove They’re a Responsible Driver
If you’re really unsure about how safely they can drive, it’s better to be safe than sorry! Make it your responsibility to travel with them whenever they’re driving after they pass, and only allow them to drive independently when you’re happy that they’re a safe driver.
This might seem a little overprotective, but it might be necessary if you think there are too many weaknesses in their driving that could come back to bite them.
Encourage Frequent, Short Distance Trips
Building confidence is key for young people when they first hit the road — and the best way of achieving this? Driving, of course!
Encourage them to drive short distances on a frequent basis so they can hone their technique and get used to their car.
Set a Good Example!
There’s no use in trying to convince a young person to drive safely if you don’t drive safely yourself. It’s your responsibility to set a good example when you’re driving, so you need to be sure that you aren’t taking any shortcuts.
Young people will naturally pick up plenty of inspiration when they’re riding passengers with you, so make sure that you are there to set a good example.
Are You Trying to Encourage a Young Person to Drive Safely?
Encouraging a young person to drive safely can be very tricky — with some being more receptive than others — but it’s essential. We all know how dangerous driving can be, so your input could help prevent an avoidable accident in the future.
If you’ve got any more tips for encouraging young people to drive safely, feel free to leave a comment down below.
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