Apps Allow Parents to Track Driving Habits of Their Teen Children

Motor vehicle crashes involving young drivers are preventable and experts say proven strategies can improve the safety of teenagers on the road.

The conversation about teen driver safety is getting added attention this week after a juvenile driver was involved in a crash with a minivan in Martin County which resulted in four deaths, CBS12 reported.

A makeshift memorial was placed at the intersection of U.S. 1 and 14th Street after two teens in a Tesla and a couple in a minivan, who were celebrating their 42nd anniversary, were killed in the wreck there.

Parents worried about their teen children driving

Having a teen driving a car can be an incredibly stressful time for parents. Barbara DeMichele, a parent who hails from Stuart, said that until they walk in the door, you worry about them. She worries about how fast they go, and even though she tries to teach them the best methods of safe driving, she is always worried.

Luckily for DeMichele, there is increasingly more technology nowadays allowing parents to keep tabs on where their teen drivers are and at what speed they are driving their vehicles.

Much of the technology that is available to parents such as DeMichele involves apps, which can be installed on the phone of a teen and provide real-time data while they are in a vehicle.

Alan Crowetz, who is the president and CEO of InfoStream, Inc., said that there is a ton of apps out there and the big question is how much parents want to pay and what specific features they want.

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Parents using apps to check their kids' driving

Crowetz explained that among the things they are looking for are the young drivers' capabilities. Apart from checking if they are braking hard, the apps also check if they are using the phone, texting or doing aggressive driving. The app tracks where the speed limit is in any given area and checks if they are going over that limit.

Bouncie, Life360, and RoadReady, are a few of the most commonly used apps by parents to track their children's driving. According to WPTV, some vehicles, specifically those made by Tesla, already have built-in safety features.

Tesla has its own mobile app where parents can track teen drivers remotely. Crowetz said that everything from setting a maximum speed to setting a maximum acceleration, parents can make it so the car won't do it. Even if the driver wants to do it they can't go over it. Parents can prevent their teenage driver from speeding with a Tesla as they can get alerts from the automaker when such a thing occurs.

Prices for these apps range from $7.99 to $24.99 per month. It is a small price to pay, though, for parents who want to make sure that their children are safe when hitting the road with their cars.