Resources for Parents
DRIVE SMART University knows there are lots of emotions surrounding teens getting their driver’s licenses. You, as a parent, are often scared because you know the crash statistics, but you’re probably also excited because you can stop being a chauffeur! Research shows that YOUR driving behavior and your involvement with your teen driver play a critical role in their driving behavior. Please search here for tips on teaching your teen how to drive, risks teen drivers face, insurance information, products you can buy to monitor your teen’s driving, and much more. If there’s a resource you think we should include, please let us know!
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Safe Text – Protecting Your Teen from the Dangers of Texting
This is the first book in a series to help parents protect their teens from the dangers of technology and the Internet. Not only does the book describe the dangers and legal implications of texting, but also gives tools and information how to dialog with teens about the dangers of texting.
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Safe Young Drivers: A Guide for Parents and Teens
This is an indispensable guide for teaching teens to drive. Written by Phil Berardelli, a father and former teacher who understands this often frustrating – and potentially dangerous – passage into adulthood, Safe Young Drivers is intended for parents and teens to use together. Each new lesson addresses parental issues, such as how to choose a car for your teen, and provides teens with simple instruction and important tips to remember. With simple graphics, a complete index, and a section called Some ABC’s for the Road – a mini-encyclopedia for teens – Safe Young Drivers offers a valuable tool for all new drivers and their teachers.
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Not So Fast: Parenting Your Teen Through the Dangers of Driving
Not So Fast empowers and guides parents to understand the causes and situations that most often lead to teen crashes and to take specific, proactive steps—before and each time a teen driver gets behind the wheel—to counteract them.
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“Rookie Driver” Stickers and Magnets
“Rookie Driver” car stickers and magnets available to alert other drivers that a new driver is behind the wheel.
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“Student Driver” Magnet
A reflective vehicle car sign to let other drivers know that there is a student driver on the road.
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GPS Apps for Safe Teen Driving
There applications that you can install on your phone (or your teen’s phone) for almost anything today.
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teenSMART
Unlike driver’s education programs that focus on passing a driving test, teenSMART uses behavioral intervention methodology and scientifically based instructional technology to identify and address six factors that cause more than 90% of all teen collisions. Teens learn about each of these factors through self-paced, interactive exercises that keep them engaged and interested.
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Safe Road Home: Stop Your Teen From Drinking and Driving
Safe Road Home takes a brutally honest look at drinking and driving, featuring detailed advice, new research, and safe-driving tips from leading experts. For parents and teens alike, the book also includes quizzes, solutions to everyday scenarios, a “Smashed” viewing guide, and true stories about teens who survived alcohol-related crashes—and some who did not.
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3 Keys to Keeping Your Teen Alive: Lessons for Surviving the First Year of Driving
This program works with state/provincial Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) programs to provide 25 structured driving lessons including detailed road practice exercises with instructional videos; critical information about issues like distracted, drowsy and impaired driving plus essential vehicle maintenance and break-down tips.
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Rules of the Road: Interactive Driver’s Ed Course
A comprehensive 2-disc interactive driver’s education course. This can be used as a refresher for skilled drivers or an introduction for new drivers.
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Teach Your Teen to Drive: … and Stay Alive
“Teach Your Teen to Drive… and Stay Alive” is a way for parents to teach their teens to drive while covering each states’ parent-teen practice driving laws-typically an average of 50 hours. The book is written with innovative, positive and lifesaving tips helping “safety-proof” families from expensive collisions, tickets, insurance rates repairs or a DUI. “Teach Your Teen” features 8 simple, life-saving chapters that also focus on driving safety and reducing parent-teen anxiety.
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Crash-Proof Your Kids: Make Your Teen a Safer, Smarter Driver
Certified driving instructor and dad Timothy Smith combines the collective wisdom of numerous experts to develop the Crashproof Plan: a series of behind-the-wheel exercises designed to improve your teen’s driving awareness, behavior, and skill in a way that fits your schedule. Written in a highly accessible, informal, and often humorous style, this comprehensive plan begins where drivers’ education programs end.
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Driver Ed in a Box
Driver Education Course with videos, interactive classroom, audio CD’s with tips, and training mirrors.
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Driving Simulator and Road Rules
An electronic driving simulator designed to act as a safe tool for teens to learn and practice driving skills. The software program simulates driving in cities, snow, fog, darkness and icy road conditions, practicing parallel parking, passing, lane changing and much more.
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CellGuardians Distracted Driving App
CellGuardians, a new safe driving app, eliminates distracted driving caused by mobile devices. It automatically turns on and disables distracting apps when it detects the user is driving. It also has an emergency release button to release the protective mode.
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Road Ready Teens
Road Ready Teens website has a teen/parent contract creator.
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Virginia Driver’s Manual
An online version of the Virginia Driver’s Manual that covers everything you need to know to prepare for the Virginia Driver’s Exam. Exam questions are taken directly from this manual.
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Virginia Department of Education 45 Hour Parent/Teen Driving Guide
A guide written by the Virginia Department of Education that details Virginia’s graduated license laws, what parents should be teaching their teens during driving lessons, and tips for parents of teen drivers.
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Partners for Safe Teen Driving
The mission of Partners for Safe Teen Driving is to help communities develop a parent education program, so that parents can guide their children through the first perilous years of driving.
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MasterDrive
MasterDrive is a national driving school and online resource center that features clinics for parents and students as well as information for corporate fleets.
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Road Ready Teens
Road Ready Teens website has a teen/parent contract creator.
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GEICO Teen Driving and Teenager Car Insurance
Resources for teens and parents that includes a parent/teen driving contract, a PowerPoint presentation for parents, teen driving statistics, videos and an auto safety library with quiz.
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Toyota’s TeenDrive365
Toyota’s TeenDrive365 gives parents the tools to help talk to their teen about safe driving during a teen’s first year behind the wheel and beyond.
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Teen Texting & Driving: A Comprehensive Guide For Parents
This guide highlights five ways parents and educators can address the issue of texting and driving with teens.
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Road Ready Teens Contract Creator
Create your own Parent-Teen Road Rules Contract based on the recommendations of the leading safety experts and those found in the Parent’s Guide.
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The Truth About Teen Driving
An interactive article illustrating the history of teen driving, statistics on car accidents, and an outline of dangers and risk behaviors involved with teen driving. This great resource also includes car insurance rates and state regulations that parents will find very helpful.
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MADD: Mothers Against Drunk Driving
The mission of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. To date, MADD’s work has saved nearly 300,000 lives…and counting.
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Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety (YOVASO)
YOVASO is a youth leadership organization focused on saving the lives of teenage drivers through encouraging and empowering teenagers to be traffic safety advocates in their schools and communities. YOVASO helps students and school administrators set up a YOVASO Club or expand an already existing club to include safe driving initiatives. Trainings, support materials, safety campaigns, and staff assistance are all free.
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CDC- Distracted Driving
Read about a recent CDC analysis that examined the frequency of two major distractions—cell phone use and texting—among drivers in the United States and several countries in Europe.
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AT&T It Can Wait
Get statistics about teens and texting and driving, download an anti-texting app for your teen’s phone, and watch AT&T’s new 10-minute documentary titled “The Last Text,” featuring stories of real individuals whose lives have been adversely affected by texting behind the wheel.
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Teen Driver Source
Created by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, this website provides important traffic safety information and tools to new teen drivers.
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Tips for Parents of Teen Drivers from Progressive Insurance
Progressive Insurance provides parents with information to help them understand the risk factors involved in letting 16-year-olds get behind the wheel.
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Parenting Teen Drivers
A website created by a child psychologist to convince parents of the need to take teenage driving seriously and to take steps to reduce the risk of their children being in auto accidents. Among these steps is a parent-teen driving agreement.
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Liberty Mutual Insurance
Liberty Mutual’s teen website with information for teens with tips on preparing for the driving test, how to parallel park, and what to do in the case of an accident. Information for parents on helping teens learn to drive, insurance, and state driving laws.
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Getting Your Learner’s Permit and Driver’s License in Virginia
The Virginia DMV explains the requirements for obtaining a learner’s permit and driver’s license in Virginia.
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Teen Driver Information
Information provided by the Virginia DMV to help teen drivers understand the requirements of driver’s education and documents needed to obtain a license. The site also includes a Sample Knowledge Exam.
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Parents in the Driver’s Seat
A brochure for parents outlining their rights and responsibilities as a parent to a new driver, and explaining the sanctions of teen driving offenses.
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Teen Driving Restrictions
Teen driving restrictions are explained on the Virginia DMV website and include curfew restrictions, restrictions on the number of passengers, and cell phone/wireless communication device restrictions.
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Virginia Driver’s Manual
An online version of the Virginia Driver’s Manual that covers everything you need to know to prepare for the Virginia Driver’s Exam. Exam questions are taken directly from this manual.
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Community Driving School
Community Driving School (CDS) is a DMV certified driver education school and driver improvement clinic for teenagers and adults. CDS offers the American Automobile Association’s Driver Improvement Program, entitled, “Managing Visibility, Time and Space”. This fast paced course teaches you how to navigate the road safely and covers a wide range of current highway safety driving topics. Drivers who are DMV directed, Court directed, or directed for insurance purposes can take this 8 hour class to meet those requirements. Drivers who are interested in earning up to 5 Safe Driving Points can also take this class.
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International Driving Education School
The International Driving Education School teaches all nationalities and speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese. The school provides road test service to both Northern Virginia and Washington D.C.
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Green Light Driving School
Located in Charlottesville, Green Light Driving School offers behind-the-wheel instruction, driver’s education and driver improvement classes.
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A Metropolitan Driving School
Located in Richmond, this school offers behind-the-wheel, classroom and driver improvement instruction.
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EZ Driving School
A Northern Virginia driving school that provides behind-the-wheel, drivers education and driver improvement instruction.
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Latinos Driving School
Serving Fairfax, Burke, Herndon, Reston, Chantilly, Centreville, Woodbridge, Dale City, Bristol, Gainesville, and Manassas, Latinos Driving School provides behind-the-wheel instruction, driver’s education, and re-examination classes.
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ADJ Driver Improvement
ADJ Driver Improvement, located in Northern Virginia, has been providing classroom and behind the wheel training for 35 years. ADJ provide’s classroom instruction and behind the wheel training for teens and adults seeking to obtain a standard drivers license as well as a Driver Improvement Course. Virginia State Certified and Approved, the classes are taught using the National Safety Council Defensive Driving Course.
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Advantage Driving School
Located in Vienna, this school provides driver education programs, classroom and behind the wheel for teens and adults. The school specializes in driver improvement clinics, including online driver improvement for adults 20 or older.
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Delta Driving School
Serving the Northern Virginia area, Delta Driving School offers driver’s education classes, behind the wheel training, and online driver improvement classes.
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AA Driving Academy
Located in Herndon, VA, AA Driving Academy specializes in teaching collision-free, defensive driving techniques. This combined with a solid grounding of classroom theory gives students the strong foundation they need to develop a thorough understanding of the roads, rules & regulations. AA Academy offers behind the wheel training, driver improvement courses and driver education re-examination courses.
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A+ Driving School
A+ Driving School is a driving educational facility located in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It offers a wide range of driving education courses and classes to improve driving skills and to provide certifications of achievement to students.
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DriversEd.com
An online Virginia drivers ed course that has been approved by the Virginia Department of Education (license # 117-0010). This online program will provide drivers with all the knowledge they need to start in-car lessons with an instructor.
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I Drive Safely: Driver’s Ed Virginia Online
This 100% online program was designed exclusively for Virginia home-schooled students. Students can earn their Virginia driver’s permit from home through this state-approved program that allows you to set your schedule and work at your own pace.
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List: Northern Virginia Area Drivers Schools
A comprehensive list of Northern Virginia driving schools created by The Washington Post. Cost of classes, location, and program description provided for each school.
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Phyllis Foster Driving School
Serving the Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach area with behind-the-wheel, driver’s education, and driving improvement instruction.
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Safe & Sound Driving School, LLC
Located in Louisa, Safe & Sound Driving School, LLC, is a family owned business. The school’s flexible class hours make it convenient to complete the necessary behind the wheel and/or classroom instruction to obtain a Virginia Driver’s License. Safe & Sound also provides a driver improvement course.
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Adam G Driving School
Serving the Northern Virginia area with behind-the-wheel and classroom instruction. English and Hindi instruction available.
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P.E.R.S.E.P.T.I.O.N.S. Driving School
P.E.R.S.E.P.T.I.O.N.S. Driving School, serving Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, provides behind the wheel training, private driving lessons, driver improvement, and re-examination.
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Quality Driving School
Quality Driving School serves Falls Church, Annandale, Vienna, Mclean, Merrifield, and Oakton and most parts of Arlington, Fairfax, Springfield, and Alexandria. The driving school offers Re-Examination Certification for Driver Education and Behind the Wheel.
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Syeda Driving School
Located in Woodbridge, Virginia, Syeda Driving School provides driver education, behind the wheel instruction, and driver improvement class.