Between 2005 and 2009, AAA reports, 7,300 teen drivers have been killed in summer car accidents. On average, 422 teens are killed each summer month, compared to 363 teen deaths during the non-summer months. “Parents should not underestimate the critical role they play in keeping their teens safe, especially during these high-risk months,” said AAA Vice President of Public Affairs Kathleen Marvaso. “With the majority of the most dangerous days falling during the traditional summer vacation months, parents must realize that there is no summer break from safety and be vigilant about remaining involved and enforcing rules with their teens.”

There are a number of actions that parents and teen drivers can take to reduce the chance of a teen car accident this summer. First of all, write a parent-teen safe driving contract to assure that the driver is obeying all traffic laws and steering clear of dangerous decisions like distracted driving. Since teens can get their drivers permit at 16 and unrestricted licence at 18, the summer months are perfect for boosting knowledge for the drivers tests. Once you’re ready for the test, visit a California DMV office and get your license.

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There are a lot of no brainers here. It’s not advisable, for example, to buy your newly-licensed teenager a brand new Lamborghini or Corvette. I mean, why tempt them? You also probably want to avoid clunky SUVs or massive Hummers, which are often difficult to handle and can cost a fortune when it comes to gas bills. But aside from these considerations, there are so many factors to weigh, and it can help to have car and safety experts to parse the details.

That’s why we’re thankful for Consumer Reports, which last week released a list and video of used-cars that are safe and reliable for teen drivers. Finding a safe car, they write, is especially important considering that car crashes are the number one killer of young people in the United States. Between the ages of 15 and 19 there were 3,000 car accident deaths and 350,000 car-related emergency room visits in 2009 alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teenagers are four times more likely to crash than any other demographic.

Some more pointers include avoiding vehicles that can seat five or more people “because who needs a whole pack of teens all in one car? That’s just asking for trouble.” And although SUVs appear safer, they can actually be difficult to handle, and their high center of gravity can be prone to rollovers. These considerations in mind, Consumer Reports suggested 8 safe models for teenagers, which each cost below $12,000. Here’s the list:

• Acura TSX (2004 or later)
• Ford Focus sedan (2009 or later)
• Hyundai Sonata (2006 or later)
• Hyundai Elantra SE (2008 or later)
• Mazda3 Touring (2007 or later)
• Scion xB (2008 or later)
• Volkswagen Jetta (2007 or later)
• Volkswagen Rabbit (2007 or later)

Visit Consumer Reports for more information on safe cars for teenagers, and how to decide which factors are the most important (hint: safety). And check out our parents and teen safety page for additional information on how to keep your teenager safe behind the wheel.

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Once a fringe concern, the importance of distracted driving has swelled with the increased use of technology. Last year, the Department of Transportation reported nearly 6,000 deaths and half a million injuries related to distracted driving. Although thirty states and the District of Colombia have passed laws against distracted driving, enforcement remains weak and LaHood himself has admitted that insufficient enforcement undercuts the laws. Even before enforcement is an issue, though, the responsibility lies with parents and educators to teach safe driving behavior to their children and students, the subject LaHood intends to speak about this morning.

Ray LaHood and Consumer Reports have been spreading important information about distracted driving for years now. But oftentimes safety guidelines are ineffective unless they come from an age peer or close connection with a powerful story. For this reason, I hope to see youth-led grassroots groups like Teens in the Driver’s Seat and Students Against Destructive Decisions take more of the responsibility for spreading distracted driving awareness. Students can also find inspiration in 16 year-old Laura Saldivar, who got involved in anti-distracted driving campaigns at the age of 10, when her cousin was killed in a distracted driving accident. She is an active participant in National Organizations for Youth Safety and SADD, among other groups.

Tune in to the Consumer Reports Facebook page for Secretary LaHood’s conversation about the dangers of distracted driving and how to prevent dangerous behavior among teens. And check out our parents section for more about teen drivers and the best ways to advocate vehicle safety.

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To date, 30 states including the District of Colombia have adopted laws against distracted driving. But many members of congress have been weary of a federal distracted driving law, fearing that it would interfere with states rights. In an interview with Consumer Reports, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says that’s going to change, if he has anything to do with it. “We’re going to push Congress to pass a federal law,” said LaHood, a tireless advocate for stricter distracted driving laws. “We believe a federal law with good enforcement can change people’s behavior.” LaHood also said that police officers should be able to pull a driver over for talking on his or her phone; currently, drivers can only be cited for distracted driving as a secondary offense.

LaHood has long said that laws are ineffective if they’re not backed up with strict enforcement. To test this theory, the Department of Transportation launched extensive enforcement programs in Syracuse, New York and Hartford, Connecticut. Halfway through the program, handheld cell phone use was down 56 percent in Hartford, and 38 percent in Syracuse. “We know there is a dramatic change in behavior when somebody gets a ticket, when a law is enforced,” said LaHood of the program.

The Consumer Reports survey supports LaHood’s contention that distracted driving laws aren’t being enforced strongly enough to impact driver behavior. Of the 78 percent of respondents who told Consumer Reports that they have stopped distractions, 66 percent said the behavior change was due to reading about the dangers of distracted driving, and 44 percent said they were deterred by laws against the practice, but only 1 percent said they were issued a ticket for distracted driving. This is quite low, considering that 80 percent of respondents admitted to habitually texting or talking on the phone behind the wheel in the past.

Fortunately, safety advocates, phone companies, and technology manufacturers are taking clear steps to help teenagers and adults end distracted driving. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best tech devices for distracted drivers, as has Consumer Reports. These include hands free aids, in addition to phone blockers that take away the urge to text altogether.

There are other actions concerned drivers can take to help end distracted driving. Support state and national laws against distracted driving, for example, and the push to make distractions a primary, rather than secondary, driving offense. The nonprofit organization that backs Consumer Reports suggests a four pronged approach to distracted driving that includes collecting more data, implementing more and stronger laws, boosting enforcement, and simplifying vehicle and cell phone controls.

There are also more grassroots groups taking up the fight against distracted driving. Even teens, who are generally considered the worst offenders, have launched organizations – like Students Against Destructive Decisions – to make a stronger peer-to-peer connection. And, of course, distracted driving can be combated on Facebook and Twitter, by following streams like @iDriveSafeUSA, @DontTwive, @DropItAndDrive, and @RayLaHood.

Lynch’s stated goal of the “Text Ed” videos is to “guide parents through the pitfalls of mobile phone misuse” with segments that focus on sexting, mobile harassment, and texting while driving. The most recent video, which tackles distracted driving, quips that in addition to being dangerous, it’s simply a faux pas, “kind of like chewing with your mouth open or shaving in public.” Lynch also warns that some teens pick up the bad behavior from their parents, as 70 percent of teens accuse their parents of texting behind the wheel.

LG’s Text Ed web site also provides an a library of articles and tips related to teen cell phone use, and a list of facts about dangerous phone use. One fact states, for example, that although 45 percent of teenagers admit to texting while driving, only 4 percent of parents believe that their child has engaged in the taboo practice. Finally, LG suggests that parents establish a set of ground rules for cell phone use before these problems arise. To help with the dangers of distracted driving, we have set up a parent teen  safe driving contract, to monitor difficult questions about distracted driving, speed, and permitted passengers.

Check out LG’s text ed video on distracted driving starring Jane Lynch:

The state has already distributed 30,000 bands at community events and high school football games, and plans to order another shipment of 30,000. “A lot of people want them for their kids,” said Courtney Greene, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Public Safety. “It’s a fun way to get across a serious message about not texting and driving.”

Last year, the dangerous practice killed 6,000 drivers and injured more than a half million more, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Though a nationwide law against the practice has stalled in Congress, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has been a vocal supporter of laws against texting behind the wheel. “The simple fact is that texting and talking on cell phones behind the wheel is a deadly epidemic,” wrote LaHood on his blog earlier this year. “To suggest otherwise is to put your head in the sand. To spend considerable resources to suggest otherwise is a glaring waste.”

Another popular way to persuade teenagers not to text while driving is for parents to write up a safe driving contract with their children. We’ve created a template contract for parents and teenagers that creates guidelines for subjects ranging from distracted driving to obeying all traffic signs. A number of insurance companies and the Center for Disease Control have also endorsed this strategy. “It’s a way for parents and teens to engage with each other and agree on what the consequences are,” said Arlene Greenspan, a senior scientist at the Injury Center of the CDC. “Writing it down clarifies for everybody what the rules are.”

This week, National Teen Driver Safety Week, the statistics speak to the importance of taking any chance to cut down on distracted driving. Creative police tactics like Iowa’s TXTING KILLS campaign and parent-teen driver contracts are promising first steps toward the long-term goal of making distracted driving as taboo as driving under the influence and neglecting to wear seat belts.

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“Driving in a variety of settings is the best way to build competence; starting early and practicing often can make the crucial difference between being a tentative novice driver or one capable of handling challenging and unavoidable driving scenarios,” said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger. “Until now, there has been almost no scientific research on what parents actually do while supervising their teens’ driving. This study reinforces that parents are ideally positioned to assess their teen’s early driving ability and provide invaluable training and guidance during this critical time.”

More states nationwide are implementing graduated licensing laws with the purpose of giving new drivers a mechanism through which to build driving skills under parental supervision. In California, for example, drivers receive their learner’s permit at 15 years, 6 months, their restricted license at 16, and their unrestricted license a year later. By this time, safety advocates hope drivers have the skills and emotional maturity necessary to drive without supervision.

In the past few years, accidents among the teenage population have skyrocketed, and car accidents are now the number one killer of teens. Some have attributed this to lack of behind-the-wheel training before teens receive their license. “Humans learn complex tasks like driving more from direct experience than by being told what to do,” said the University of North Carolina Highway Research Center’s Arthur Goodin, the report’s primary researcher. “Parents should ask themselves: Do I want my teen to learn how to handle bad weather, darkness, rush hour traffic or narrow rural roads without me in the car?”

For most parents, the answer to this question is a resounding no. So the AAA report serves as a National Teen Driver Safety Week reminder to give students as much training as possible during their learner’s period. And from a safety perspective, if your child is not quite ready for a license when he or she is eligible, it’s worth taking a few extra months to hone in on the areas in which he or she can improve.

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Clearly, there are a lot of variables not taken in to account. For example, Virginia Beach could have a higher general crash rate than Chesapeake. But this study is consistent with the findings of a similar 2008 article in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, which found a 16.5 percent decline in teen crashes in districts with schools that started an hour later than neighboring areas.

“This study did not prove by any means that early high school start times led to increased rates of car crashes,” said Robert Vorona, one of the study’s co-authors, noting that the crash increase is tied directly to tired drivers. So ostensibly, an easy fix is getting teenagers to sleep earlier so that they can have the important 8-9 hours of sleep each night. But with homework, mounting pressure to get in to college, and extra-curricular activities like drama or sports (not to mention relax time), teenagers aren’t likely to turn in before 11 (not to mention 10). With this in mind, Vorona said, “early high school start times are problematic.”

The study also raises the question: if driving early in the morning can be dangerous for teenagers, who’s to say that is a good time to be learning? Pushing school start times back an hour, the report says, can make students more alert in class, in addition to boosting road safety.

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“As parents, we need to keep eyes wide open during graduations and summer parties where teens gather to celebrate. The chance that alcohol may appear at these events is high, and no one should get behind the wheel after consuming alcoholic beverages regardless of their age,” said Andrew Gillin, managing partner of GJEL Accident Attorneys. “In our effort to keep families and other motorists safe, GJEL Accident Attorneys advises parents take the keys away, be a chauffeur, and use our Parent-Teen Safe Driving Contract as a discussion guide about teen driver safety.”

The statistics on teen drunk driving accidents are troubling, to say the least. In 2006, 1,700 high school students were arrested for driving under the influence, accounting for 9.5 percent of all DUI arrests that year, an increase from 7.5 percent in 1996 according to the California Highway Patrol. In 2008, more than 2,200 drivers under 21-years-old were injured in accidents caused by impaired driving. And each year during prom and graduation months in California, more than 700 students under 21 are killed in alcohol-related car accidents, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Graduation is a worthy and exciting opportunity to celebrate your child’s academic success. But to ensure safe celebration these next few weekends, take the keys away if your child is attending a party that might have alcohol. And to help prevent future drunk or impaired driving accidents, download the GJEL Parent-Teen Safe Driving Contract, which covers five areas that contribute to dangerous driving habits: driving under the influence, driving with other minors, speeding and rules of the road, and auto accidents. The contract is also available in Microsoft Word format to help families edit the content to fit their house rules.

Congratulations on your teenager’s graduation! Have a great celebration and remember to be safe.

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For this reason, it’s up to individual families to ensure that their sons, daughters, and siblings are driving more safely than is required by law. That means pledging to curb cell phone use behind the wheel, limiting the number of passengers in your car, and being conscious of when and where you drive. GJEL Accident Attorneys suggests that parents draw up a Parent-Teen Safe Driving Contract with their teenagers before the summer starts. “As summer vacation begins, we traditionally see an increase in traffic accidents and fatalities among young people,” says GJEL Managing Partner Andy Gillin. “In our effort to keep families and other motorists safe, our firm has created this free discussion guide to elevate attention on teen driver safety among parents and young adults.”

The contract is available in two forms, PDF and Microsoft Word so that families can alter the guidelines to fit their values and house rules. “We suggest parents establish a reward if the contract is fulfilled and a consequence when teens break their pledge to be a safe motorist,” said Gillin. The goal of this contract is to help raise awareness about the legal driving practices that are allowed by law. Fortunately families can supplement the slow progress of Congress, which has not yet caught up to technology when it comes to road safety laws.

Visit the GJEL News and Resources Center to download the contract in addition to other important documents like a Car Accident Preparedness Checklist to keep in your glove box. Good luck, and contact us with stories about your experiences with the contract.