Parents can help too!

Most parents work hard to teach their kids to be good drivers. Unfortunately, this effort solves only a small piece of the problem. Almost half of the 6,000 teens who die in car crashes each year are passengers.

As parents we may feel somewhat confident that our kids are basically good drivers, albeit with limited experience. However, this can lead us to complacency. What we often forget is that our kids probably spend as much time in other teen’s cars as their own, if not more. We may even feel we know the friends well enough to have confidence in their driving skills. But do we really know how they drive? In Maxwell’s case we got it completely wrong!

Now what about the teens we don’t know with whom our kid’s ride as passengers? Here we have lost total control!

Supporting and encouraging our kids to join Maxwell’s Pledge is a great way to reduce the risk of injury and death by expanding the base of teen drivers who are prepared to take action to be safer drivers. We certainly cannot rest assured, knowing that we have done a good job with our own kids, meanwhile forgetting they are often passengers in other teen’s cars and are therefore at high risk!

Perhaps you will see the Maxwell’s Pledge logo in the car window of your teen’s friend. You should congratulate that teen on taking the Pledge and being a responsible driver, while also reminding him/her to take care of your own son or daughter. This positive reminder and reinforcement is key to the success of the Maxwell’s Pledge program.

Perhaps a friend of your teen drives into your driveway with no Maxwell’s Pledge logo displayed! You might be inclined to ask why there is no logo. Depending on the answer, you may decide against allowing this person to drive away with your kids as passengers!

If you think you can help further by encouraging your local high school to adopt the Maxwell’s Pledge program, then please let us know by sending an email to inquire@maxwellspledge.com.

Click here to read more about Maxwell’s Pledge program.