Anonymous wrote:Ha this weekend I insisted on picking my high school student up from a party (DC doesn't drive yet and I do not know any of his classmates who do drive) and a car load of teens pulled up next to us and there were four in the back seat, so at least two did not have on seat belts. They looked to be 16 ...

If the technology's there, I'm using it. Car crashes are a leading cause of death among teens.

Use it OP. I wrote the above before I read you personal history. USE IT!

How do the parents not know this?? A monitoring device isn't going to clue you in. Have discussions with your kid.

As PP said, your bigger worry is distracted driving (texting).

Co-worker of mine just lost his niece, riding in a car while the driver texted. He blew through a stop sign and was T-boned by a truck. She was ejected and died on the scene. Other 3 in the car are in intensive care.

If you can't trust her not to speed, how can you trust her not to text?

Ha this weekend I insisted on picking my high school student up from a party (DC doesn't drive yet and I do not know any of his classmates who do drive) and a car load of teens pulled up next to us and there were four in the back seat, so at least two did not have on seat belts. They looked to be 16 ...

If the technology's there, I'm using it. Car crashes are a leading cause of death among teens.

Use it OP. I wrote the above before I read you personal history. USE IT!

OP here. Thanks for the feedback. The distracted driving issue is important, but I feel comfortable my child won't do that, or that we can at least limit it. But I'll definitely give that more thought. I also trust her to be where she says she's going to be. So this isn't a location issue. It's solely a speeding issue.

Even though I never broke curfew, was a straight A student, never really lied to my parents (at least not about huge important things), I was a total speed demon, going over 100 mph quite often when driving home from school in the afternoons. I didn't have other kids in the car at the time, but I was racing with other kids driving their own cars home. I never got a ticket, but I must have done it a 100 times or more.

All of my friends who died in high school and college, died because of car accidents. I have one friend who suffered a TBI from hitting a deer while speeding. She will never be able to live on her own. I have one friend who went to jail after hitting and killing a pedestrian who was walking across the road near Merriweather Post after a concert. The U.S. has one of the highest child accidental death rates of developed nations, and a significant portion of that is teen driving. 400,000 teens are in serious car accidents each year.

My kid has a heavy foot. This is her weakness (as it always was mine). I want something to monitor that when she's a new driver.

I know that a couple of auto insurance companies offer this. As a PP mentioned, you also might want to see if your cellphone provider offers it as well.

That being said, I do agree with a PP about its potential lack of usefulness. Full disclosure here – I have 17YO twin DD’s and before my kids were drivers, I was gung-ho that I was going to monitor them and know their whereabouts, etc. Well, experience has taught me that it is easier to talk with them and educate them about responsibility, appropriate risk-taking and safety. According to our auto insurer the # 1 cause of teen driver accidents is not speeding – it is distracted driving. I am not sure that the device the OP wants will deter that absent some discussion about the other dangers. Relying on the device is dangerous, teens will figure out pretty quickly what you are up to and the device will have a limited shelf life. The first 6 months, they are happy to be driving and will drive with any device you want. However, by the 2nd time you confront them about their whereabouts or their speed, they will work around it. The obvious one is that they will start catching rides with friends. And I 100% agree with the PP....you do not want your kids riding with their friends. You want them driving themselves around and you shouldn’t give them incentive to car pool.

Get the device if you think it will be helpful. It may be a useful tool. But being the parent of a driving teen requires informed trust, vigilance and constant communication – not just surveillance.

Of course I will be getting this when my DS is driving.

We have Family Locator through my cell phone service – and all of the kids (3 teenagers) have the feature on their phones. Honestly though, we have never used it. Call me crazy, but I just do not think it would be that helpful. Besides, DH has found that checking mileage on the car is a better method. LOL! Sure, we have had our share of questionable decisions. I just do not think that constant monitoring is going to prevent your kids from making these types of decisions. Besides that, crafty kids will find a way around it. Put a GPS on the car? Fine, I will just drive to my friend’s house and ride with her from there. And I would rather MY kids drive themselves then have them ride with friends – I know how MY kids drive.

We have had a couple speeding tickets. Well, in Maryland certain types of tickets mandate a driver’s safety class. And having to spend a Saturday doing that (and losing the license the next time) was a much bigger deterrent than anything I could dream up (although she did have her keys confiscated for a bit). We are not naïve and we know that our kids do not always follow the letter of our rules. But we are not going to live our lives always being CSI with them either. We set rules and expectations about our car. We require them to file a “flight plan” before they leave which cannot be changed once they leave the house. If our rules are broken and we find out, then we discipline and educate.

But IF i were going to use a GPS/Locater, I would opt for one tied to the phone and not the car.

If it's just about speeding then talk to your insurance agent. They might have some recommedations plus be willing to give a discount.

however there is some websites to look at
http://www.teentracking.com/
http://www.intouchmvc.com/teen-driving-?monitoring.html
http://www.mobileteengps.com
http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/...tabs-on-?your-teen-driver.html

Cut the cord.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it--and will when the time comes. Teens, by virtue of being teens, are prone to making bad decisions. My job is to help them through the immature years so that they can grow into responsible, productive, independent adults. That will require (with one of my kids) monitoring closely until I am sure she is making good choices.

Anonymous wrote:Granted, DD is only 10, but if my trust in her was so low that I would want to put a GPS on the car to track her, I would probably not let her drive.

Parent of teens here. I agree with this. Shut down the helicopter.

Anonymous wrote:Granted, DD is only 10, but if my trust in her was so low that I would want to put a GPS on the car to track her, I would probably not let her drive.

Talk to me in 7 years. I never imagined feeling the need either. But it is also for her safety.

How do other parents feel about this? I am very interested to know. Do other parents of teens do this? I am very tempted to track the movements of the car--just from a safety stand point.

Granted, DD is only 10, but if my trust in her was so low that I would want to put a GPS on the car to track her, I would probably not let her drive.

I've got a daughter who will be driving in a few months, and "some" of this really interests me. Particularly the fact it can monitor and record speeds. However, there is the whole privacy issue, and I don't want or need to know where she is every minute of the day while driving. It's mostly speeding that I'm worried about. Are there any devices that just monitor speed?