If your teen is driving to prom
1. Set friendly but firm expectations
Communicate the importance of having a fun but safe night, and the dangers of distractions, drunk driving, and drugged driving. Remind your teen not to text or use social media while driving. Establish clear rules about who else will be allowed in the car, if anyone, and when your teen is expected to be home by. If you haven’t already, consider creating a parent-teen driving agreement, which affirms your teen’s commitment to safety in writing.
One major expectation to set is that your teen wear their seatbelt and ensure that any passengers are also buckled up. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 51% of teen drivers who died in 2021 were unbuckled, and when the teen driver involved in the fatal crash was unbuckled, 9 out of 10 of the passengers who died were also unbuckled.
If your state has a graduated driver license law, remind your teen of the rules. In California, for example, it’s illegal for teens under age 18 and in the Provisional License stage to carry teen passengers after 11 p.m during their first year of driving. AAA’s sample parent-teen driver agreement lays out many of these rules.
2. Emphasize the dangers of drunk & drugged driving
In 2021, about 1 in 4 young drivers who were killed in crashes had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above 0.01 g/dL, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Most states have “zero tolerance” laws that prohibit drivers under 21 from having any alcohol or other drugs in their system.
Remind your teen that alcohol isn’t the only danger—other drugs such as marijuana and cocaine also impair driving, regardless of what myths they may have heard.
3. Ask them about their plans
One of the most important things to know is whether your teen plans to attend any parties after prom. Underage drinking is common at after-prom parties, especially if they’re not supervised by an adult. Socializing after prom can also encourage teen drivers to cruise around with friends late at night, which adds passenger distraction on top of the nighttime and drug risks.
4. Discourage them from driving with a large group of friends
In states with graduated driver licensing laws, there are often legal limits on the number of underage passengers a teen driver can have without an adult present. Even if it's not against the rules, though, other teens are the biggest distraction for teen drivers. New drivers often want to impress their friends by driving the whole group, but the potential for distraction rises with every additional teen passenger.
