Easing Restrictions and Granting Privileges

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You can consider easing restrictions and granting more privileges as your teen becomes a more experienced driver. When should you consider easing restrictions? Here are some good guidelines:

• the initial high-risk 6-12 month period has passed
• both parent and teen have become more comfortable with the teen’s driving abilities
• the teen has been crash-free and violation-free during this time

Be careful not to lift restrictions too soon. Your teen should show responsible behavior, smart driving practices, and be crash-free and violation-free for several months before new privileges are granted.

Make sure exceptions stay exceptions

Teens will occasionally ask for exceptions to driving restrictions. If you grant an exception, be sure it remains an exception – and does not become a new rule. Communicate the exception clearly. It can be easy to allow a series of "special circumstances" that your teen then considers the "new rule".

Grant privileges one at a time

Make certain you don’t grant too many privileges at one time. Combinations of privileges are the most dangerous for teen drivers – such as carrying several teen passengers while driving at night. Start slowly. For example, you might allow your teen to have one passenger – while still restricting night driving.

Make the first experience routine

The first experience with the new privilege should be routine – such as taking a family member to a regular activity during the week. Be especially careful when it comes to night driving. Don’t allow the first independent night driving experience to occur on the night of a big game or prom when the temptation to indulge in risky driving behaviors is greatest.

Granting additional privileges

Once everyone is comfortable with a new privilege, open the window a little further and grant greater privileges. For example, increase privileges to allow unlimited destinations with one or two passengers during the day. Or, add one night a week to the teen’s regular driving times. The key to granting driving privileges is to break down the restrictions into parts and ease the teen into them one at a time. It may feel painfully slow to the teen. But like the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise comes out ahead.

Download our Parent/Teen driving Agreement

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