A new feature, provided by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, allows Texas residents to access important state information to help them to teach their teen driver safe and effective driving skills. It is with the proper education, both in the classroom and out on our roadways, that we can help reduce our teen’s risks of being involved in a car accident in Dallas and elsewhere throughout the state. For this reason, the Foundation has created AAA Keys2Drive: The AAA Guide to Teen Driver Safety, to help Texas parents get their teen to become the very best driver they can be.
The Foundation focuses their efforts on educating our teen drivers because, each day, car accidents end more teen lives than cancer, homicide and suicide combined. Many of the teens killed in these accidents are passengers of other teen drivers. According to a recent study, your teen is at an equally dangerous risk for an accident whether they’re riding with older siblings, teenage neighbors or siblings and friends. Results from these studies illustrate that even the best and brightest teens experience an increased risk of being involved in a fatal accident compared to drivers who have more experience behind the wheel.
Our Carrollton peronal injury lawyers would like Texas parents to take the time to properly and effectively teach your teen driver the correct rules of the road. It is important that parents emphasize the importance of safe driving habits and focused driving. Every bit of driving information and experience can help to reduce your teen’s risk of experiencing a serious car accident.
In Texas, a teen must complete a two-step process to receive their driver’s license:
-Instruction Permit: First, at the age of 15, your teen can apply for their instruction permit. To get this permit, you and your teen need to visit the local driver exam office with a state-certified copy of the teen’s birth certificate, or a valid United States passport, and show proof of Social Security number, name and age. Teens must then pass a written driver’s knowledge test, a sign recognition test and a vision test in order to receive an instruction permit. Lastly, your teen must be enrolled in a driver education course.
-Provisional License: When your teens turns 16-years-old, and has already had an instruction permit for at least 6 months and completed 20 hours of practice driving, they can then apply for this provisional license. To get this license, they need to pass a behind-the-wheel driving test, complete a state-certified driver’s education course and obtain the classroom and behind-the-wheel certificates. Legal guardians must be present with their teens to sign the application form.
-Full license: Once your teen turns 17, and has successfully completed the provisional license phase, they are eligible for an unrestricted license.
An instruction permit allows a teen to drive with a licensed driver age 21 or older that is supervising and sitting in the front seat. Teens with this license are required to practice driving for at least 20 hours. These 20 hours must include 10 hours at night, with a parent or a legal guardian, before they’re allowed a provisional license.
With a provisional license, a teen is allowed to drive alone, but they are to follow certain restrictions for the first six months. They may not transport more than one person under age 21 who is not a family member. With this license, they are not allowed to drive between midnight and 5 a.m. except when accompanied by a licensed parent or guardian or driving to/from employment, a school-authorized activity or for a medical emergency.
At 17, and after all the previous steps are completed, a driver is then able to drive whenever they need without being supervised.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 2,500 teens were killed in traffic accidents in 2009. During this year, nearly 600 teens were killed in Texas because of traffic accidents that involved a teen driver.
If you have been injured in a Carrollton car accident involving a teen driver, contact a Dallas car accident attorney at the Goolsby Law Firm for experienced advice about your rights. Call 1-972-394-2141 for a free consultation today.
More Blog Entries:
MADD Announces Most Dangerous Days for Teen Car Accidents in Texas and Elsewhere, Dallas Injury Lawyer Blog, June 10, 2011
Test Scores Show High Risk of Texas Car Accidents, Dallas Injury Lawyer Blog, June 14, 2011
Most Dangerous Roads Released for Dallas Teen Car Accidents, Dallas Injury Lawyer Blog, June 1, 2011
