Tag: young driver

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What Kind Of Parent Lets Their Teenager Go On A Road Trip?

Q: My daughter just graduated from high school, and now she and her friends are planning a multi-day road trip to celebrate. I’m not sure how smart or safe it is to let four teenagers drive together for several days. I’m trying to figure out if letting her go makes me a good parent or a bad parent.

A: I am reasonably qualified to answer a question about traffic safety. I’m certainly not qualified to determine if you’re a good or bad parent, so I can’t help you there. However, the fact that you’re asking the question has me leaning toward the former.

I can imagine the questions you’re asking yourself, because several years ago I was asking myself the same ones as my son departed on a road trip with some recently graduated friends. Based on that statement, you might think I’m going to recommend that you let your daughter go on the trip. But I’m smarter than that; I’m not going to tell another parent what’s right for their kid.

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Who Doesn’t Buckle Up?

Instead of a reader asking me a question, this week I have a question for you: Do you know anyone that’s received a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt? It’s entirely possible that you don’t. Washington ranks in the top five states for seatbelt use, with close to 95 percent of vehicle occupants wearing a seatbelt. The four states ahead of us are mostly neighbors; Oregon, California, Hawaii (sort of a neighbor), and Georgia, the geographic outlier. The state with the lowest rate of seatbelt use? New Hampshire, at about 68 percent. Its state motto is, “Live free or die.” I’m pretty sure General John Stark was not thinking about seatbelts when he wrote that in 1809, but that’s the reason many New Hampshirites (is that what you call them?) give for why they don’t want a seatbelt law.

How do we know the percentage of seatbelt users in each state? Because there are people watching you drive. Creepy? It’s not as bad as it sounds. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) conducts annual seatbelt observations using trained observers to watch for seatbelt use at pre-identified locations around the state. If you want all the details about this spying (it’s not really spying) you can read the full report at the WTSC website.

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