Fast Track to Better Teen Driving?

Everyone probably remembers the excitement of getting their first car as a teenager.   If that was in the vicinity of 25-35 years ago, it may well seem like the world was a safer place back then…especially if you’re recalling mischief that was gotten away with…that could have easily gone awry.

When considering teenagers and cars, today’s reality is that drivers aged 15 to 17 are eight (8) times as likely to be involved in a car accident than those just a little bit older, ages 18 to 24, if they’re carrying passengers, according a study from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.  The cold hard fact is: traffic accidents are the number one cause of death among teens.

A San Jose, CA couple that was worried about how to teach their sixteen-year-old son good driving habits couldn’t find an answer especially inspiring.  Both husband and wife have masters degrees in computer science…so it was only natural that they invented a device allowing parents to check up on their kids’ driving progress…electronically.

Featured in USA Today for their start-up company named Truvolo…Jaideep and Sandhya Jain invented its small flagship device that plugs directly into a car’s on-board computer.  The device then sends stats about the car’s health as well as the driving habits of the operator back to a smartphone.  Stats like G-forces produced by abrupt acceleration, deceleration and swerving…as well as information that’s usually reserved for mechanics, allowing users to catch dangerous problems well in advance of a breakdown.  The device can also issue text alerts when a driver has arrived at their destination.

“It wasn’t about wanting to spy on him, but about making him a better driver…I looked at the statistics, and the first year of anyone’s driving life has the most incidents, simply because you think you know everything but, of course, you don’t.”

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