Teen Driver Protection

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Teen Driver Protection

Parent Engagement Initiative

With the elimination of mandatory driver’s education for teen drivers in Missouri, the burden for teaching teenagers to drive falls on the parents. To help parents fulfill this role, Horn has developed a “parent engagement initiative”. The goal is to teach parents of new drivers on how they can best protect their teen drivers.

Teen Driver Protection Consultations are an important part of Horn’s parent engagement initiative. In these consultations, Horn counsels parents on their special responsibilities under Missouri’s Graduated Driver’s Licensing law (GDL law) that govern new and novice drivers. Too often parents are not able to properly enforce the Missouri GDL law because they have not been informed of the restrictions that are placed on teen drivers, including curfews and passenger limits.

In the Teen Driver Protection Consultation Horn also details how parents can instill a safe driving approach in their teen drivers and provides resources that parents can use to keep driving safety a family priority.

Teen Driver Protection Consultations are free of charge and can be adapted for either private meetings or group presentations.

To supplement his parent engagement initiative, Horn has important resources available for download, which include 10 Important Tips For Parents of Teen Drivers and a Teen Driver Agreement.

Teen Driver Protection Speaking Engagements

In addition to working directly with parents, Horn regularly gives teen driver protection presentations to school districts, parent booster groups, Rotary chapters, community groups, and other civic-purposed organizations. If you would like schedule Horn to address your group, please contact him at dhorn@hornlaw.wpengine.com.

Drive By Example

In order to bolster teen driver protection in Missouri, Horn developed Drive By Example, a communications platform that can be implemented by school districts to provide a comprehensive driver safety program driver that influences teen drivers to adopt the safe driving habits and behaviors that protect themselves, their passengers, and others on the road.

In this regard, Drive By Example is a perfect fit for high school application because it:

  • is built on a clear, concise, and memorable driver safety message to “drive by example: drive alert, buckled, cautious, and defensive”. That is ABCD.
  • addresses all of the top teen driver safety priorities, including the elimination of distracted, reckless, aggressive, and impaired driving
  • utilizes a positive framing approach that influences teen drivers to a higher standard of driving that is consistent with the legal duty all drivers have to exercise the highest degree of care while operating a motor vehicle
  • is a sustained campaign that keeps driver safety high on the student consciousness throughout the entire school year
  • provides the foundation for driver safety education to be integrated in high school health curriculum

With regard to driver safety education, Horn is also recommending that Missouri school districts support the Drive By Example messaging campaign by incorporating driver safety education as part of the general high school health education requirements. While traditional “driver’s ed” is no longer feasible from a cost standpoint, driving safety education can be made a part of the 9th and 10th grade health studies course work.

In order to assist high schools in offering driver safety education instruction, Drive By Example’s model high school program includes a driver safety education course outline that gives students a solid foundation in driver safety, including instruction on safe driving habits and behaviors, vehicle safety, important aspects of automobile insurance,  and emergency/accident procedures.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]