Do Crash Avoidance Technologies Improve Teenage Driver Safety?

Car manufacturers, telecommunication companies, and car insurance providers are just a few examples of the various companies working to develop crash avoidance technologies specifically aimed at curbing teenage driver car accidents.

Some of the more noteworthy examples of crash avoidance technology created to improve teenage driver safety include:

• The Life360 app: This technology is designed to help families with teenage and young drivers communicate and connect. The app includes a driver safety mode that can track a teen driver’s locations, monitor speed, and send text message alerts when hard braking, speeding/rapid acceleration, and even crashes occur. Additionally, the app includes 24/7 driver care support.
• Ford’s MyKey system: With Ford’s new MyKey technology, parents can enforce custom settings on vehicles driven by teenagers and young drivers. Such settings may include:
  • Volume limits on the radio/stereo
  • A “Belt-Minder” that chimes as well as mutes the vehicle speakers until the driver is buckled up
  • Top speed cutoffs to prevent teens going over certain limits
• AAA’s Keys2Drive: AAA offers this new online teen driving resource for parents. The technology is tailored for each state’s laws as well as for each phase of the new driver experience. AAA’s Keys2Drive website helps parents determine the best way to discuss potential driving risks during the “get ready” phase. It also provides teaching methods for the “practice” phase, and offers state laws and other important info for teens who are starting to drive or expecting to receive their licenses. Additionally, there’s a Parent-Teen Driver Agreement available so parents can establish rules and guidelines for new drivers within their household.
• FamilyTime: This app provides “over-speeding” alerts to ensure parents are aware of when their children are driving dangerously or over-speed. When a parent logs in to the FamilyTime app dashboard, they can set speed limits and sign up for instant push notifications that monitor a young driver’s road habits. According to the FamilyTime website, over-speed alerts can help ensure safe driving, avert car accidents, and help parents worry less about the teenage driver(s) in their household.
• Hum: With the Hum driving technology, concerned parents can view their teenager’s driving history, get information on trip destinations, view travel time and distance, idle time, fuel used, MPG, average speed and max speed, etc. Driving History can be emailed via the Hum app as a downloadable CSV file. Additional parent-friendly features offered by Hum include vehicle location monitoring, boundary alerts, and speed alerts. Parents can also invite teen drivers to share a “safety score” via the app.
• LifeSaver: This technology includes a Driver Portal for parents as well as a LifeSaver app for drivers. Parents can monitor whether or not a teen is driving and also confirm when they arrive at their destination safely. In the LifeSaver app, driving is auto-detected and cell phone use is automatically blocked while on the road. There’s also a portal for drivers to invite others to take steps to improve road safety.
• Drive Safe.ly: Hailed on its website as the “app to stop distracted driving,” Drive Safe.ly is a hands-free option for reading texts and emails aloud so drivers aren’t likely to check their cell phones while on the roads. The app claims to help eliminate both texting and reading emails while driving, particularly among teenage and young drivers.
• Toyota Oculus Rift: Although the technology is a few years old now, Toyota’s Oculus Rift virtuality reality system operates through the TeenDrive365 distracted driving simulator. TeenDrive365 uses an actual car in an effort to help encourage teens to get behind the wheel of a stationary Toyota while wearing the Oculus Rift headset. When operating the Oculus Rift system, Toyota claims drivers are “fully immersed in a virtual reality driving experience, complete with the three-dimensional sights and sounds of a busy city street.” Oculus Rift utilizes the cars’ steering wheel and pedals, and teen drivers actually encounter real-world distractions such as traffic noise, a blaring radio, text messages, etc.