1 Excellent advise. I am going to have to keep it around when grandkids start to drive.

2 The Web can be a tool for parents and teens on learning the rules of the road and keeping updating their driving skills. Here are some great resources for both: AAA - Click on Teen Drivers for links to a parent-teen contract and a driving discussion guide. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety with links to Driver-ZED (Zero Errors Driving) 3.0 interactive DVD and the report "Teen Crashes -- Everyone is at Risk." Drivers Handbook - Click on USA in the left rail to see links to states' drivers manuals online. TeenDriving.com, a site started in 1994 as a new drivers homepage. Also, Parents Magazine published in either May or June a whole section on great tips for teens and parents. Check with your local librarian for the exact issue. I checked online and you need a subscription to search. Good luck!

3 Sorry, here's one more link you might find useful: www.nhtsa.dot.gov

4 Re-itterating ... DO NOT RELY ON THE AIRBAG AS YOUR SINGLE RESTRAINT DEVICE. Airbags are a supplement to the seat-belt. Seat-belts are the single most important thing that will save your life in an accident.

5 In all the years I wasted pushing a county cruiser up and down the roads I never once had to unbuckle a corpse at an accident scene.

6 If you are at a party - even if it's just a get together at a friend's place - remember these little things... 1 - if you have had anything alcoholic - do not get behind the wheel of a car. Period. You will feel fine, you will KNOW you're under control... you're NOT. Call your mom, call a cab, don't drive - it's not worth it. 2 - do not get into the car with another driver from the party. Even if that person is supposed to be the "sober driver" don't do it! I know kids who have offered to be the "sober driver" - this means they only have a few drinks instead of getting falling down drunk. On a side note, I know of a girl who was killed while wearing a seatbelt. The car flipped into a corn field, it was the middle of the night, she strangled while hanging upsidedown... she was drunk. 'nuff said.

7 It's not the seatbelt part...he does that automatically....at least, he does when *I* am in the car. It's the lack of foresight...what *could* happen....when he has the music blaring, back windows down (so everyone else can hear what he's listening to), front windows up (hey, gotta have the a/c) and the down-turned rear-view so he can slouch and lean on the arm-rest.... UGH! Are all boys, uh hum, new drivers, this way? Talk about Panic at the Disco! ohmygawd! I want to kill him....funny thing is, I *know* he is a responsible kid....but I think he checks his brain once he gets behind the wheel....and that's where it matters most!

8 Rave, Kids that age can fake maturity real good when they're being watched. On their own it's another matter. Now for some advice for you. Leave him with the no doubt possible impression that if he so much as thinks of doing stupid things while in the car you will make him wish he had never been conceived. He does something stupid in the car while you're around, get in his face and let him know you will tear apart his mortal soul if he doesn't cut it out. Remember, you brought him into this world, and you can take him out. Make him fear what will happen should he screw up rather than what might happen. Knowing the mom creature will skin him alive for acting like a careless ass has far more power than any hypothetical consequence. He's at the age where he needs the bitch goddess to lay down the law. Besides, it'll give him tons of material for his future career in stand-up comedy.

9 ... A couple of Rules of the Road for EVERYONE here, including all the "experienced" drivers. 1. That large truck you just cut off is going MUCH faster than you think it is, and it will take MUCH longer for it to stop than you will. Do you really want to be in front of it? Answer: No. The safest place to be is behind any and all large trucks. I don't give a flip if he's *only* going the speed limit. You're going to pull in front of him, hit your brakes, and count on him being able to slow down in time to keep from running OVER your vehicle. HE WILL NOT DENT YOUR BUMPER! HE WILL DENT YOUR ROOF! I have seen the photos of an accident where the Lincoln Navigator slowed the semi down enough, so, the driver of the BMW only had a broken neck, and the trunk in the back seat. The semi was parked ON TOP of the Navigator. 2. The largest vehicle in sight has the de facto right of way. Sure, you may be in the right, and the driver of the largest vehicle will probably get a lot of tickets, if they do something stupid. You'll be dead. Sorry, I'll take the tickets. I'll feel like shit, but, I'll be alive to pay the tickets. You won't. Hope your feeling of "I have the right of way!" is worth it. For the record, it is rare your stupid SUV is the largest vehicle in sight. It will protect you from all the other four wheel deathtraps on the road, but, do you really think that truck large enough to put your SUV in the back, and still have room left over for the rest of their load, really cares that you feel safe? You're not. 3. It is YOUR (yes, YOU. Not him, nor her, nor that guy over there. if you are reading these words, it means YOU.) responsibility to notice any and all distractions, dangers, hazards, and obstacles in the road. If you see a large truck moving slowly on your street, and you decide to go around it, and he runs OVER your because you didn't fucking bother to stop and look, to get an idea of what he was doing, it's YOUR fucking fault. Sure, the driver of the truck will probably get the ticket, because he's supposed to "know" better, and most of his job is keeping your stupid ass alive, even though you're putting up a fight, but, morally, ethically, and LEGALLY, it is YOUR responsibility, not his. Sorry about the rant, but, I had to vent. Got into it with a fuckhead driver today, who was almost better at getting himself killed than I was keeping him alive. It was close. By about 2 ft close.

10 Oh, I should also mention that 90% of US drivers classify themselves as "Above average" or "superior" drivers. All 100% of the surbey participants were wrong.

11 Rave - THIS new boy driver was never an idiot. I was doing that "buckle up or the car doesn't move" thing when I was a teenager. I paid attention in my driver's ed class & took all the lessons to heart. Especially since I lived in a rural small town where having a deer pop out onto the highway was a regular occurrance.