Help your teen plan a safe trip to southern summer festivals

15 December 2011

Help your teen plan a safe trip to the summer festivals in the south

Many Kiwi teens will be hitting the road this summer to attend one of dozens of music festivals around the country.

For some it will be their first time driving long distances on unfamiliar roads in holiday traffic, and for their parents there will be nail-biting moments waiting for their teen to arrive safely at their destination and back home again.

The good news is that help is available for parents who want to do more. The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is providing practical advice and free tools via a dedicated website - www.safeteendriver.co.nz - to help parents work with their teenagers to plan their trips safely.

The website encourages parents to help their teen identify and manage the highest risks situations they might face when driving by themselves.

South Island teenagers may be travelling to festivals as far apart as the Rippon Festival in Wanaka, or to Rhythm and Alps at Terrace Downs in Canterbury. Driving to a festival can be challenging. Teenagers may encounter narrow, winding roads, road works, holiday-makers towing boats, and heavy traffic. These will all require them to reduce their speed and be patient. For parents with teens with little experience in these situations, it is worth getting in the car with them to give them some practice – even if the can already have a full licence.

Where possible, parents should get their teenagers to thoroughly plan their route so they can concentrate on driving and not be distracted by navigating. It’s also a good idea to show teens how to do a safety check of their vehicle before setting off. Parents should talk to their teenagers about how to pay attention to the road, weather and traffic conditions and adjust their speed if necessary. Driving too fast for the conditions is one of the most common factors in teen driver crashes.

Teens will be keen to pack as much music into a day as they can, and getting a decent sleep isn't likely to be on their list of priorities. But even moderate sleep deprivation can be dangerous when driving. If teens have been drinking, they’ll need to make sure they get plenty of rest and that the alcohol has left their system. They could still be over the limit the next day.

Greg Allnutt NZTA Southern Region Regional Manager of Access and Use says, “While watching your teenager drive away on a long trip can be an extremely worrying time for parents, there are some practical tips available to give them the best chance of arriving and returning safely.

“A great place to start is the Safe Teen Driver website. It offers practical tips on the things you need to discuss with your teen and different approaches you can take, so they don’t think you are a nagging parent.

“It is important to work with your teenagers to plan their summer travel routes, including talking about the driving challenges they may face and what they can do to reduce the risk of a crash. These risks include peer pressure, planning ahead and driving fatigue.”

Mr Allnutt says, “Parents can be legends too by staying involved in their teenager’s summer driving plans, and who knows one day they may even thank you for it.”

Click here for more detailed driving instructions to the festivals.

Data shows that New Zealand’s teen drivers are most at risk of having a serious crash in the first six to 12 months of driving solo on a restricted licence. They are more vulnerable on the road during this period than at any other time in their lives. Each year for the past five years there has been around 1300 crashes resulting in injury or death involving teen drivers on a restricted licence.

The key conditions of the restricted licence are:
• Restricted licence holders must not drive by themselves between 10pm and 5am. If they are going to drive between these times they must have a supervisor in the front passenger seat); and
• Restricted licence holders must not carry passengers unless they have a supervisor with them (subject to some exceptions for spouses and dependents).

When a young driver has two or more passengers in the car with them, they’re ten times more likely to have a crash than if they were driving alone. If those passengers are about the same age as the driver, the risk is more than fifteen times higher than if they were driving alone.

40% of crashes involving young drivers (aged 15-24) happen when it’s dark.

Young drivers are disproportionately involved in crashes at night (particularly Friday and Saturday nights).

ENDS

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