T
he New Jersey Assembly
recently voted to expand
and formalize a century-
old tradition that encour-
ages one generation
to teach the next how
to drive from here to there quickly,
safely and efficiently.
One bill would stretch the learner’s-
permit period from six months to 12.
It would also mandate 50 hours of
practice driving, including 10 at night,
with an adult licensee (preferably a
family member) keeping track while
riding shotgun.
And since Mom or Dad (or a guard-
ian) would be shouldering much of the
training anyway, a second bill would
require them to brush up on driving
laws — either in a 90-minute class
with their kids, or online.
For some busy parents, supervising
and tracking the driving habits of their
children for 50 hours over a 12-month
period in summer rain and winter
snow might seem like a heavy slog.
But Garden State moms and dads
wouldn’t be the first to take up this
burden.
“Practice hours are tried-and-true
best practices in 46 of the 50 states,”
says safe-driving activist Cathleen Lewis
of AAA Northeast. “This is something
we need to do to catch up.”
TRAINING OPPORTUNITY
FOR PARENTS
With mandatory parental classes in
driver-ed appearing to be politically
unpopular, an auto insurer is offering
a voluntary plan that might gain
acceptance.
It’s called Share the Keys, a driver-
training strategy that’s been around for
four years in about 200 of New Jersey’s
500 high schools.
Most of these schools have found
ways to persuade at least some parents
to attend driver-ed classrooms and
auditoriums for primers on how to pre-
vent their teens from getting involved in
crashes, which kill more young people
than any disease.
MORE
THAN
50%
OF TEENS ADMIT TO READING A TEXT
MESSAGE OR EMAIL WHILE DRIVING
IN THE PAST 30 DAYS. — AAA
The state Motor Vehicle Commission
endorses the program, but its budget
and the budgets provided by local
school boards are limited — with some
notable exceptions: usually schools that
have felt the tragic sting of student road
deaths.
Recently, after two years of discus-
sions with AAA, the Teen Safe Driving
Coalition, teachers’ groups and the
MVC, an auto insurer — New Jersey
Manufacturers — announced it’s pro-
viding the resources to expand Share
the Keys to virtually any school that
wants to participate.
Will parents take the trouble to par-
ticipate in Share the Keys even though
attendance isn’t mandated by law?
No one knows for sure, but they’ve
done so in 200 high schools so far. In
some cases, principals imposed their
own rules.
Some won’t grant high-school
parking permits to teens unless a
parent or guardian participates. In some
cases, schools won’t grant permission
for teens to get their MVC learners’
permits even though they’ve passed the
written test administered in drivers-ed
class.
Traffic-safety advocates have suggest-
ed some positive incentives, too, such
as car-insurance premium discounts for
participating families.
But if you’re already paying high
premiums for cars driven by several
teen siblings, don’t get your hopes up.
If all else fails, teen road-safety
advocates are still holding out for
legislation. ●
(201) FAMILY | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017
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