Campaign for Safe Teenage Drivers

The school, supported by its Parent Council, has decided to promote Safe Teenage Drivers. Safe driving is of importance for all road users in the community and it is to improve safety on our roads that this is being pursued.

We have prepared a booklet outlining the reasons why this is such an issue and what you can do to help your son or daughter who is learning to drive or, indeed, has already passed his or her test.

Within the booklet, you will find some sobering statistics.

• Road crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds.
• 1 in 5 drivers has a crash in their first year of driving.
• The presence of one passenger almost doubles the risk of a fatal crash compared to the teenager driving alone.
• With two or more passengers, the fatal crash risk is five times as high as driving alone.
• You are 3 times more likely to die in a car crash on a rural road where over half of driving fatalities occur.

The booklet encourages the agreement of a contract between parent and teenager. Inevitably, this will be met with resistance but research has shown that the more tightly controlled a young driver’s driving is, the lower the likelihood of traffic offences and crashes.

The second part of the booklet is composed of a Parent-Teenager Safe Driving Contract. It is available here for download as a Word document and may be adapted to suit your requirements.

Download by clicking here >>> safe-drivers-web-version

We ask that you take the time to study this booklet, to discuss it with your son or daughter, no matter at what stage his or her driving, and to seriously consider using the contract to help him or her be a safer driver.

The booklet was originally created by staff in Banchory Academy, Aberdeenshire, and has been updated, with their permission, for Gairloch by Mr Hulme.

We plan to issue this booklet home to all parents of S5 and S6.

Associated link:

Road Safety Scotland started its existence as the Scottish Road Safety Campaign and was founded in 1985. It is funded by the Scottish Government and its remit is to develop and co-ordinate Scotland-wide road safety initiatives and campaigns. Road Safety Scotland works closely with all local authority and police Road Safety Units in an attempt to ensure a co-ordinated approach to road safety in Scotland.