Our online traffic safety course for parents and teens can enhance what teens learn in their driver education class. 

While driver education classes can provide your teen with many of the skills they need to drive safely, instructors don’t always have time to delve into every topic they cover. For example, many driver ed programs don’t spend much time on the subjects of distracted and impaired driving, despite being them being two of the top causes of crashes in the United States.

Thankfully, there are ways you can supplement your teen’s driver education course and enhance what they’ve learned. Online traffic safety courses and honest conversations about the dangers of distracted and impaired driving are essential tools to ensure your teen is as safe as they can be while on the road. 

Participating in teen driver education courses online can give your teen an interactive, engaging way to learn the critical lessons they need to avoid driving distracted or impaired. You can help educate your teen by completing these programs alongside them, and speaking to them about distracted and impaired driving.

Here are some of the best ways to go beyond what driver ed teaches your teen and provide important lessons about impaired and distracted driving. 

Plan My Ride (PMR) Program 

Programs such as the Plan My Ride not only allow teens to experience the dangers of alcohol and distracted-driving situations in a safe way, but also help them build skills that many driver education courses do not thoroughly address. If you’re a parent looking for tools to supplement what your teen learns at driver ed, this version of Plan My Ride is perfect for you. 

Plan My Ride is an interactive teen driver education course online that provides lessons on: 

• Avoiding distractions while driving 
• Avoiding substance-impaired driving 
• And more 

Plan My Ride provides an opportunity to focus on managing and avoiding distracted and impaired driving situations. The program thoroughly teaches teens about this subject and offers strategies they can use in real-life driving situations, when many driver ed programs do not. With Plan My Ride, you can help your teen build skills outside the lessons that they’re typically taught in driver ed to ensure they are driving as safely as possible.

Other Programs and Tools 

Besides online traffic safety courses like Plan My Ride, you can find other resources that help educate your teen on the dangers of distracted and impaired driving. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens, with many of those crashes caused by impaired or distracted driving. Providing your teen with robust driver ed and safety resources can help them understand the dangerous consequences of these situations and how they can avoid them in the first place.

Resources to reference include: 

• Your state or local government, which can provide programs or resources on driving safety, local traffic laws, and more.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which provides additional ideas for education about teen driving safety and the consequences of drinking and driving. 
• Education about the dangers of texting while driving.

Honest Discussions 

As you provide resources to your teen and participate in teen driver education courses online with them, it’s essential to start with — and continue — honest conversations about distracted and impaired driving situations. You can bring up these talks at any time: while you’re discussing driver education, while you’re in the car, or running errands together. 

You can also give your teen tips on handling peer pressure, setting specific family rules, and creating an exit plan to be picked up if they find themselves in an unsafe situation or with friends who are about to drive while impaired or distracted. Most of all, practice what you preach; whenever you are behind the wheel, be an example to your teen of what safe driving looks like. 

To learn more about Plan My Ride and get started with your online traffic safety course, contact us online or call 800.272.5023 today.