5 Tips To Help Your Teens Prevent Texting While Driving

OMG. I H8 IT WHEN PPL TXT ON THE ROAD!

You cannot say it enough, so our firm’s auto accident attorneys are back at it, spreading the news about the dangers of using a cellphone while behind the wheel.  And when we say cellphones, we don’t just mean talking and driving the same time — we are talking, of course, about talking, dialing, playing games, and the hazardous texting.

It is known that adult drivers are guilty of this, but the real concern is getting teen drivers to stop texting and pay attention to the road.  Parents can only supervise their children so many hours in the day.  Most of the time, teens are off with their friends and putting their lives in danger by texting and driving.

If your teenager feels uncomfortable when their friend is at the wheel, but their mind is on the screen of their phone, there are ways for them to speak up to the distracted driver without entirely jeopardizing their friendship or seeming lame.

Here are five ways, with some assistance from TeenHealth.com, for your teenager to tell their friends to put down their phone and focus on the road without sounding like an overbearing parent or a personal injury lawyer, for that matter.

1.  “Please Stop Texting While You Drive”

Known as the direct approach, it can really make an impact when someone sees that you are very nervous about making it to your destination free of pain and suffering.  Your child can tell the teen driver that they need to put the phone down or pull over to the side of the road to let them out of the vehicle.  Most of the time, straight honesty is the best policy.

2.  “How About You Drive, I’ll Text?”

Everyone likes a helping hand, so suggest to your teenage that they take over the text messenger role while the other person focuses solely on driving.  Tell your teen that they should offer a level of privacy when transmitting messages and since they are friends, that trust can be honored.  Even in adolescence, we all want someone we can trust and this can help build the foundation for that, as well keep your children safe.

3.  “Look How Messed Up That Accident Is!”

Visual components, particularly for teenagers, always helps to drive the lesson home.  If your son or daughter is with a teen driver who will not stop texting and driving, have them point out an accident if they come across the scene of a crash and casually suggest that maybe, possibly, quite probably it was due to someone paying more attention to their phone than the road.  They’ll get the picture pretty quick.

4.  “It’s Not Just Me; We All Want You To Stop Texting And Driving”

Power in numbers.  Teens tend to be like packs of wolves and travel together and your child cannot be the only one who feels that their life is in danger by a driver who’s texting away on the phone.  Take a vote before getting in the car with a notorious text-driving addict and suggest taking away their keys or riding with someone else if the behavior does not change.  That’s how you can stop a drunk driving accident (DUI) and if DUI accidents are preventable, then so are the accidents caused by texting.

5.  “My Mom/Dad Says I Cannot Ride With You If You Continue To Text And Drive”

Being a parent is a lot about embarrassing yourself and being the bad guy.  Tell your teens that, in this case, you do not mind taking the blame.  Just make sure that you mean it too.  Often when they cannot speak up for themselves or do not know how, that’s where you need to come in as a parent, even if it is in the form of an indirect third party.  You might not be in the car with them, but your presence can be.

And if the driving and texting continues, our auto accident attorneys want you to tell your child that it is not worth having a friend who does not respect their wishes and puts them in harm’s way.  It might seem like the end of the world to lose out on a “bestie” (that’s “best friend”, to the rest of us), but the real end of the world would crash that happens because someone was texting instead of driving with your children’s safety in mind.

What do you think about this article?  Is there any other ways your teens can ask their friends to stop driving while texting?  Would you let your child get in a car with a texting driver?


Since 1992, our personal injury attorneys at the Pines Salomon Injury Lawyers, APC. have been fighting for the people. Now, when those injured in automobile accidents need financial help, or for the families that need to know that the loss of a loved one could have been prevented, there is a personal injury law firm in San Diego that is on their side.

If you or a family member has been injured, call the lawyers at Pines Salomon Injury Lawyers, APC. There’s never been a better time than right now to speak to a personal injury attorney—FREE of charge. Call us at 858-551-2090 or request a free consultation online today! Our attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you owe us nothing until there is a fair recovery.