National Youth Traffic Safety Month


May is National Youth Traffic Safety Month and with summer driving comes the sad reality that car accidents are the leading cause of death for teen drivers (1), It’s time for parents to sit down with their teenage drivers to talk about vehicle safety. An important part of that conversation is vehicle maintenance, especially in light of an AutoMD.com survey that revealed that most teenagers are clueless about auto repair. According to the survey, two-thirds of parents rate their teen’s basic knowledge of car maintenance as “somewhat or completely clueless,” or “average.” (2)

To help parents educate their teens on basic auto maintenance, AutoMD.com offers these easy tips straight from its Teen Driver Car Maintenance and Repair Guide:

1. Know your car’s maintenance intervals and keep up with service
2. Take care of your tires – make sure they can get you to school, work, etc.
3. Don’t ignore dashboard warning lights
4. Don’t let your car run too low, or out of gas
5. Steer clear – take care of your windshield
6. Teen life moves fast, but your car doesn’t have to. Slow down – avoid speeding

For more details on these tips, click here: http://www.automd.com/about-automd/press/11-05-2012/. To download AutoMD.com’s Teen Driver Car Maintenance and Repair Guide click here: http://www.automd.com/teen/

 1 Results from the CDC’s 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html

2 Two in three parents say their teen is ‘clueless’ or ‘average’ about car maintenance according to the AutoMD.com Teen Driver Survey, 2011, http://www.automd.com/about-
http://www.teendriversource.org/more_pages/page/why_teens_crash_so_often/teen