The Tragic Cost of Reckless Driving: How Parents and Technology Can Save Lives
The recent tragic incident in Wayne County, Michigan, where a reckless driving incident led to the death of one teenager and could result in another facing prison, is a heartbreaking reminder of the devastating consequences that can follow when driving safety isn’t prioritized. This tragedy has also put a spotlight on the role parents play, with one mother potentially facing charges for enabling her son's reckless behavior. Parents strive to protect their children, but sometimes that isn’t enough.
When I worked for the Chevrolet brand at General Motors, we launched a Teen Driver on the Malibu feature, designed to help parents instill safe driving habits in their teens. Teen Driver acts like a digital co-pilot, allowing parents to set speed limits and audio volume restrictions and even provide gentle seatbelt reminders. It also generates a report card that tracks how well your teen drives, making monitoring and encouraging safe habits easier.
Sadly, Teen Driver isn't as widely used as it should be.
It's important for automotive manufacturers to ensure that parents know these features exist and understand how to use them effectively. This means showcasing the feature during dealer walkarounds.
While many car companies have introduced similar technologies to help teens drive more safely, these innovations are only as good as their adoption. Parents must be proactive in utilizing these features, but manufacturers must also do their part to raise awareness and educate customers.
Here are some ways parents can help keep their children safe behind the wheel using available technologies:
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Luxury car owners have options as well:
Taking Lessons from Teen Smoking Cessation
When I worked on the Truth anti-smoking initiative at PHD in New York, their media buying and planning agency of record, we focused on cultivating insights into how the influence of anti-smoking behaviors is developed as early as 12 years old. The same principle applies to teaching teens to be safe drivers. It’s crucial to start these conversations about road safety long before they ever sit behind the wheel. Talking to your kids early on about the importance of safe driving can help lay the foundation for responsible behavior when they eventually take the driver's seat.
Technology alone can't teach your teen to drive, but more parents need to be aware of what is available to them and actively engage in their children's driving education. Given the precedent set in Michigan, you may want to take these tools—and your teen's driving—much more seriously.
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3 个月To say this is an incredibly tragic story for everyone, is not even close to adequately stating the grief. One of the families lives across the street from me. The other, several houses down. While we don’t know either family well, my wife, son and I had the pleasure of meeting the deceased and he was exactly as the Free Press article described, a truly wonderful kid. Our son is only 9, and while not anywhere near driving age, it immediately terrified my wife and I. I remember being that age and having friends who drove recklessly, but that was in a 1984 Ford Escort, not a 450+ hp BMW. I rented a 2024 Mustang GT from Turo this summer just for the fun of it. It immediately puts a smile on your face. But at 480 hp, I would never want it in the hands of a kid. I plan to buy a performance vehicle of my own as a seasonal recreational car in the very near future. I would love it if there was tech available to require a thumb print in order to start it and/or tech that could significantly limit the power available. You can set limits on your child’s devices, I don’t see any reason why that can’t be incorporated into cars as either a factory option or an aftermarket install.
Owner, Audamotive Communications LLC. Proven, versatile, and reliable automotive PR/marcom/editorial writer. Subjects: new, classic, future, ICE, EV, hybrid. Audiences: business, consumer, collector, enthusiast.
3 个月Too many such incidents in the new here in Jersey, too. (Honestly, in the news here at least 1-2 times a month.) And then you have a teen facing long jail time, essentially damaging another young life. The mother is definitely culpable here, in my view. I remember a print ad for the four-door BMW M3 a few years back. The headline was something like: "Why four doors? Witnesses." Meaning, take your friends along for the joy ride. Not long afterward, there was news from Fla about a kid who did exactly that (an M5, though). The family house was on a private air strip. He took the car on the runway and launched off the berm at the end. All five teens aboard killed. https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=4198416&page=1#:~:text=Authorities%20say%20Joshua%20Ammirato%2C%2018,the%20end%20of%20the%20runway.
Principal at LDM Atlantic LLC
3 个月I am all for increased driver training which has been woefully deficient going on a generation. Throw in distractions - like radios and mobile phones - and the effects compound. I am curious HOW the mother of the teen who caused the death helped to facilitate that, which is not specified. Today, the best driver training can be found at places like (but not limited to) Bondurant and Skip Barber. Opponents would argue that these ‘high-performance driving schools’ promote speed; I argue they bring into hyper-focus the potential danger of driving, imbue the teen with confidence because they know how to handle a car properly, and speak to anticipating what is coming on the road ahead. Technology can only do so much. As people want to cede responsibility for their actions we must continue to hold them accountable for their actions. Thank you for sharing.