What Your Teen Needs to Know if Their Car Breaks Down

No one likes it when their car breaks down. This is especially true of teenagers who are new to driving without an adult. Here are some tips on what your teen needs to know if their car breaks down.

Explain to your teen that if their car breaks down, unless the car is on fire, they should remain in the car with the doors locked for safety’s sake. Depending upon where the car broke down – either in an intersection or along a busy highway – it is best to stay in the car.

If they were able to pull the car into a parking lot or onto the shoulder, it would probably be safe to get out. In either case, if they must exit the car, they should do so from the opposite side of the car. They may have someone offer to help. Rather than getting out of the car, they should crack their window and speak with anyone who approaches their car. They should keep their eyes out for a uniformed police officer or another emergency vehicle such as a tow truck.

They should look around to find out exactly where they are with the closest address or crossroads. Having as much information as possible will make it much easier for anyone trying to find them. Then they should call you on their cell phone to let you know what has happened. Since they’ll probably be shaken up, get their location from them, and then call someone to assist them.

Call your teen back on their cell phone and keep speaking with them until a police officer or tow truck arrives. Not only will talking on the cell phone help the time pass until help arrives, it will also help your teen feel less scared.

Tell them to turn on the car’s hazard lights. If they have flares or reflective triangles, those may also be used. This will allow oncoming traffic to see them and avoid hitting them if the car can’t be moved.

Even though it’s not recommended that your teen try to fix their own car, it is still a good idea for your teen to know something about fixing or maintaining the car.

Teach your teen the basics of car maintenance. Every driver, regardless of sex, should know how to change a tire. It would also be helpful to know how to check and change their oil, check and change any fuses that are burned out, and perform other routine maintenance. It may be a good idea to have your teen take a class to learn the basics.

As a parent you want to know what your teen needs to know if their car breaks down so you can pass that information along to them. Use these ideas to help keep them safe during any trip they might make without you.

Before your teen starts to drive, it is important to know about teen car accidents and how you can help you teen to be sure that they are informed about teen car accidents and how best to avoid them. As a parent, if you search for any information about Teen Driving Statistics you will find statistics similar to those below. I have reviewed various websites to summarize the information from these sources, however, please feel free to search the web for “teen driving statistics” for more websites and information on this subject.

Car accidents can cause extensive personal injuries and property damage. There are several causes of car accidents, but reckless teenage drivers are a main cause of car accidents.

Many teenagers tend to neglect the safety precautionary measures as soon as they are behind the wheel. Reckless fast driving, unsafe passing techniques, and driving under the influence of alcohol are the most common causes of teenage car accidents.

Teenagers between the age of 15 and 20 years cause most teenage car accidents. Sadly, even minimum precautionary measures such as wearing a seat belt at all times are also neglected. Also, teenagers high on alcohol and drugs are the reason for a large number of accidents. The worst part is that all the others in the car would also sustain severe injuries due to recklessness of the driver.

All states have strict rules regarding drinking and driving in an attempt to reduce the number of teenage car accidents. However, even in places where it has been made illegal to drink and drive, there is a small percentage of rebellious teenage drivers who do not care for themselves or for the lives of others who might be involved in the car accident. In spite of all this, there has been a considerable reduction in the number of teenage car accidents in states who have tightened the security and law relating to drunk driving.

Another cause for more number of teenage car accidents is inexperience of young drivers. Due to a lack of experience, these teenagers are more prone to accidents, especially on highways and other places with considerably more traffic. Backing up in the driveways, parking, and reversing are other difficult driving techniques that often lead to accidents. Most of these kinds of accidents involve property damage more than personal injuries. It is wise for young drivers to practice driving with a responsible adult before driving on their own.

Car Accidents provides detailed information about car accidents, car accident injuries, car accident lawsuits, and more.

Recommended Resources:

The Driving Book - Covering virtually every scenario a new driver may face–from changing a tire to negotiating privileges with parents to handling a car in bad weather.

Roadside Emergency Kit With the 29 Piece Roadside Emergency Kit you will be prepared for almost any emergency you may encounter in your automobile.

The key to helping your teen make good choices at school is to train him up in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it. The End.

Ha! Don’t we wish it was that easy? Even with the best upbringing teens don’t always make the best choices. Shoot, adults don’t always make the best choices. So what can parents do to tip the scales in the teen’s favor?

1. Talk Talk Talk. Even if your teen goes into silent mode, keep talking with your child.
2. Lead by example. You can’t expect your teen to behave in a manner contrary to your own.
3. Depending on the situation, you may want to share some of your own examples of what happened when you didn’t make good choices.
4. If your teen mentions that so and so was caught with drugs in his locker, or her friend had sex with someone she met at a party – don’t immediately condemn or judge those people. Use their poor choices as a springboard for open dialog.
5. Make it easy for your teen to be honest with you. Reinforce that no matter what, you still love her.
6. Remind him that you’ll be more disappointed if he lies to you, rather than by some behavior he chose to participate in.
7. Accept that your teen may make some poor choices. Let that experience be a lessons learned for both of you. Examine what led up to that decision.
8. Denial is not a river in Egypt. If you have blinders on, it’s time to take them off. No teen is perfect. Look for warning signs.
9. Don’t give your teen too many liberties. Respecting ones privacy is one thing, but you still need to be the parent. Once your teen moves out of the home, you won’t have the authority you do now.
10. Give your teen unconditional love.

When storms come, don’t waste oxygen with should haves and could haves. There’s no point in playing the “it’s all my fault” card. What benefit will that pity party bring?

If your teen thinks she needs to be perfect, examine where that thought pattern originated. Some teens make poor choices because they rebel or because they don’t feel they can live up to mommy’s and daddy’s expectations.

All you can do is your very best. You need to be able to look yourself in the mirror and know that you’ve provided your child with all the tools she needs to be a happy, well balanced teenager.

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With cold and flu season right around the corner, I thought this information would be appreciated in the parents of teen community.

Unfortunately, it seems that abusing over-the-counter and prescription drugs are back on the rise amongst our pre-teens and teens.

Cold medicine is recorded as being the drug of choice and because cold medicines are easily accessible to teens, the problem is spreading quickly.

An article sited in the HearldNet states:

“Recent data on drug trends in this country show that teens see abusing prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines as safer than street drugs. In fact, nationwide, teen abuse of prescription drugs is on the rise while the use of street drugs, such as heroin or marijuana, is declining.”

While you may think that there isn’t much you can do to prevent this from becoming a problem for your child, there are things that you can do:

- Be sure to talk to your teen about the dangers of using too much medicine. Let them know that that there is a way to overdose on over-the-counter medicines and they can be fatal.

- Keep track of how much medication is in your home and be sure that you teen lets you know when they are taking medications.

If you would like more information on how to talk to your teens about drugs, simply visit

—> http://parentingmyteen.com/addictions/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-sex-drugs-alcohol/

Take Care,

P.S. This month, Parenting My Teen will is being sponsored by Kids In Biz. Tune in for our new show on Monday, August, 11th!

Most people enjoy a lazy day when they can sleep in and just relax.  However, when summer comes, it seems that some teens take that one lazy day and stretch it over the entire summer break.  Here are some tips to combat teen laziness this summer.

Voice your expectations – Let your teen know that you will not accept their staying in bed all day long.  It is not unreasonable to ask that they get up at a decent hour consistently.  Explain that you want them to do more than merely watch television, play console games, or surf the internet on the computer.

If your teen expects you to help pay for their summer activities, they should be willing to abide by a few summer rules.  Set a specific time that you expect them to be home, based upon your level of trust and their age.  Ask them to take on a couple of extra chores during the summer to earn some pocket money.

Get them involved – Whether you ask them to help you around the house, volunteer outside of the home, or help them get a job, you want them to be involved in something.  Give them encouragement to help at a local recreation center, children’s program, or nursing home.  They may find they truly enjoy thinking of others first.

Help them find volunteer positions by calling around to local churches, daycares, or nursing homes.  Local businesses will probably be hiring summer help; offer to help them find a job to earn money before school starts again.  This will help them learn responsibility with money, but will also help them realize the value of their time.  If they realize they get paid by the hour, they might be less likely to waste so much of it.

Spend time with them – Avoid giving lectures about what they should do during the summer.  Instead, find activities that you can do with them.  You don’t have to spend every waking moment with them, but take some time to take them shopping, to a movie, or out for a latte.  Summertime is a great time to reconnect with your teen.  Don’t let the summer go by without taking the time to talk.

Encourage activity – Take time to learn a new sport with your teen.  Not only will this help your teen be less lazy during the summer, it’ll help you be less lazy, too.  Give tennis, swimming, cycling, or rollerblading a try.  You both will benefit health wise for the effort.

Parents all over the country complain that their teens get lazy during the summer break.  These tips to combat teen laziness this summer are just a few that you can use.  Ask your teen if there are things they’d like to accomplish before school starts, and then help them to meet those goals.

Visit School’s Out! Plan For the Perfect Teen Summer http://parentingmyteen.com/schools_out.html and Find Out How To Plan For The Perfect Summer and Keep Everyone (you included) Happy!