Assume the worst.
- The oncoming car will start texting and drift into your lane.
- One more car will run the light.
- Blind hill — assume traffic ahead is stopped.
- Anything on a flatbed or pickup will fall off.
- A Yield sign requires a full stop.
A guide for parents & new drivers
Help your teen
survive the road.
Over 3,000 families get the call every year. Most of those crashes are preventable — with the right training, the right mindset, and a few unforgiving rules of the road.
Read the rulesStreet Survival Program
3,000+
Teen fatalities each year
27s
For your brain to re-engage after texting
2/3
Of teen accident deaths are passengers
40%
Insurance hike per traffic violation
Part 01 — Before you turn the key
The rules nobody teaches in driver's ed.
Read them. Argue about them at dinner. Then read them again. Safe driving is a habit of mind, not a checklist.
Know your vehicle.
- Daytime running lights?
- Anti-lock brakes and stability control?
- What condition are the tires in — especially the rear?
- Side turn signals?
- Headlights polished if the car is over five years old?
Mind the phone.
- Even hands-free, the brain makes driving secondary to the conversation.
- Avoid texting at stop lights — it can take up to 27 seconds to fully re-engage.
- Until the Takata airbag recall is complete, front-end accidents must be avoided.
Watch what's behind you.
- Keep 10% of your focus on the rear-view at all times.
- Sudden highway stop: 90% behind, with an escape route to the shoulder.
- Left turn: be ready to accelerate to avoid being rear-ended.
Lessons from Germany.
- Reflective vests for all passengers and a warning triangle on board.
- Left lane is for passing only — return right and always signal.
- Strictly adhere to construction zone speed limits.
- On any sudden highway stop, engage your hazard lights.
Don't over-correct.
- Never linger in another driver's blind spot — pass or fall back.
- Forced onto gravel? Off the gas AND the brake; ease back into the lane.
- Take front-end damage over an unsafe lane change (e.g., a deer).
The single greatest danger
"Rear tire tread depth rules the world — regardless of front, rear, or all-wheel drive."
When experts replace only two tires, they put the new ones on the rear. A worn rear tire is the most common path to oversteer, fishtail and a fatal highway spin — even on a car with all-wheel drive, great brakes, and an experienced driver.
Read the tire tech articlePart 02 — Read the room
Recognize the unsafe acts before they happen.
Awareness is the difference. Four real situations — and the small shifts that would have changed the outcome.
Unsafe behavior
A family stops at a highway construction zone. Dad chats with the flagman; an 18-wheeler plows into the stopped car.
Safer behavior
Stop, hit the hazards, focus 90% of your attention behind you. Mom alerts Waze. When the truck appears, Dad drives onto the shoulder — tires be damned.
Unsafe behavior
Mom and her teen son drive directly behind a flatbed truck. Equipment falls off and kills her son.
Safer behavior
Never drive directly behind a flatbed or loaded pickup. Pass it or hang back.
Unsafe behavior
A 19-year-old in a pickup, late and unbelted, drifts off a turn, overcorrects and rolls. Paralyzed for life.
Safer behavior
Wear the seatbelt. Manage emotion before the curb. Ease back onto the road — never jerk the wheel.
Unsafe behavior
A teen sits on the back of her car in the school lot. Another teen reverses, hits the accelerator instead of the brake. Three major surgeries.
Safer behavior
Assume any teen will hit the gas instead of the brake. Always back into parking spots.
Top fatality risks to manage
- Overcorrection
- Rear tire tread & hydroplaning
- No escape route on the highway
Be a smart passenger
- Always assess who you ride with — 2/3 of teen accident fatalities are passengers.
- Don't create chaos. Distracted passengers cause crashes.
- Be ready to shift to neutral or pull the hand brake if the driver hits the gas instead of the brake.
- Make sure your driver has an escape route on every highway stop.
Part 03 — The fine print
Insurance tips for teen drivers and parents.
The cheapest policy is rarely the right one. A few small choices can save thousands — and protect what matters most.
01
Teen drivers raise your liability exposure. Now is the time to review your auto and excess liability limits — and add an umbrella policy if you don't have one.
02
Add the teen to your existing family auto policy. Insuring a teenager separately is dramatically more expensive.
03
Choose a safe, reliable vehicle. Four-door standard cars typically get the best rates for drivers under 21.
04
Modern safety features (side airbags, ABS, stability control, automatic emergency braking) usually reduce premiums.
05
Traffic violations can raise youthful rates by up to 40%.
06
Minor incident with no other-vehicle damage? Self-insure. One small claim raises your rate for three years.
07
Driver's training and safe-driving courses earn discounts. Save the Street Survival certificate.
08
A B+ school average reduces rates with most carriers.
Confidence is built — not granted.
Voices
What families say after training.
A parent's perspective
"We can't imagine our daughter on the road without this critical training. Where else could she be exposed to emergency situations in a safe, controlled environment? Hands-on driving in real-world conditions has been the most valuable education we could provide."
A student's perspective
"I'm a new 16-year-old driver. After spending the day going through real-life emergency situations with my instructor, I've become a far more confident driver. I'm so glad my parents enrolled me — I consider it an absolute must for new drivers."
Take action
Managing teen-driving risk takes the whole family.
Start with Street Survival. Know the vehicle. Talk through unsafe acts at the dinner table. Engage — every trip, every conversation.
Enroll in Street Survival
Street Survival
Hands-on, non-profit driver education built around real emergency scenarios.
Crash Analyzer on Instagram
Watch and learn why crashes happen — visual lessons, frame by frame.
Overwhelmed & Undertrained
A Road & Track article on Danica Lacy and the unsafe acts that led to a fatal accident.
Waze
Use it on every trip — real-time hazard alerts from millions of drivers.