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TEEN DRIVERS
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Bumper Sticker: How's My Teen Driving?

Program Helps Parents Find Out What's Going On Behind Wheel

POSTED: 12:22 pm CDT July 22, 2008
UPDATED: 12:43 pm CDT July 22, 2008

Most bumper stickers come with a message, but a new type of decal, the brainchild of a pair of Massachusetts parents, also comes with a motive -- to keep teen drivers safe on the road.

The bumper stickers' message reads: "How's my teen driving?" and it's not just a slogan, television station WCVB reported.

It's an invitation for motorists to let parents know how their teens really are doing behind the wheel. It's called Steer Straight.

A Sudbury, Mass., family came up with the idea last fall when the father of a teen driver was cut off on the road by another teen driver. He wished he had a way to call the driver's parents.

Now his son, Austin Smith, 17, drives with the bumper sticker on his car.

"Since I've had it it's definitely made me drive a little safer because I don't want to get reported," Austin Smith said.

His mother, Deb, said the sticker makes her feel better when her son is on the road. She said her worries began when Austin got his license last year.

"(I was) a wreck. I would sit by the phone every time he went out," she said.

Last week, an Ashland, Mass., teenager was killed drag racing with a friend.

Now, members can purchase bumper stickers that encourage the public to call and report what they see, good or bad. Calls are answered live around the clock. Within 15 minutes an incident report is sent via e-mail to the parent of the teen driver.

"The mission is really to curb accidents and reduce fatalities. I might say, 'I was just cut off by a teenager. This is the ID number,'" Deb Smith said. "The observation report is filled out and within 15 minutes there's an e-mail sent out to the family."

There's also a text message option and an online driver's safety course for parents to review with their teen if they receive an e-mail.

"Not being reported gains my parents' trust, because they know I'm not driving recklessly," Austin Smith said.

The call is not reported to police and doesn't affect insurance rates.

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