A responsible teen driver with a full understanding of the importance of driving safely and nights of restful sleep does not have to be a mere fantasy if you work with your teen to create a Teen Driving Contract.
A Teen Driving Contract is a unilateral agreement that you can create with your son or daughter to help them acknowledge and respect the importance of driving responsibly and the consequences they will face if they do not adhere to agreed upon safe practices.
A Teen Driving Contract also reminds your teen that driving a vehicle is a privilege and not a right.
Developing a Teen Driving Contract There are several steps you must take to create a driving contract with your teen.
They are:

• Create the contract terms.
  
• Create the consequences for breaches.
  
• Enforce the contract.
  

Before we take a look at each of the steps let's talk about the actual process of developing the terms and consequences.
First, it is important that you do not draw up the contract alone and ask your teen to sign it.
Instead allow your teen driver to be a part of the process.
Let them help you create the terms as well as the consequences.
This is their chance to show you how seriously they want to take driving and this is your chance to communicate the importance of safety in a non-adversarial manner.
This will make your teen more receptive to actually paying attention to the terms and safety measures and allow them to do so without being on the offensive.
Creating the Contract Terms The goal of your contract terms is to make sure your teen understands how to be a safe driver.
Here are some examples of terms you can ask your teen to agree to in the contract.
I agree that...

• Safety will be on the forefront of my mind at all times
• Since speed increases the risk of having an accident, I must stay within the speed limit at all times.
  
• When it comes to driving, I do not know it all.
  Good driving comes with experience which Mom and Dad have.
  I will listen to my parent's driving advice without argument.
  
• I will not drive anyone else's car unless I have their permission and I will not allow anyone to drive my car under any circumstances.
  
• Because passengers increase distraction and the likelihood of an accident, I will limit the number of passengers I have at any one time to ___.
  
• I will always remember that I am responsible for making sure my passengers reach their destination safely and without preventable injury.
  
• I will always wear my seatbelt and will not begin driving until everyone in the car is properly belted.
  
• No phone call or text message is worth more than my life or the lives of my passengers.
  Therefore, my cell phone will stay in the glove compartment or my purse when I am driving and will not come out unless the car is turned off.
  
• I will be considerate of other drivers and, even when they are driving poorly, will not say, yell, or physically indicate any negative sentiments to them.
  I understand that beeping my horn to prevent an accident is an exception.
  
• Getting to my destination alive and without injuring anyone else is much more important than getting there quickly.
  I will slow down at every yellow light, stop at every red light, and watch for pedestrians before moving on a green light.
  
• I will not eat while driving and I will limit all other distractions.
  
• I will never consume alcoholic beverages or medications that cause drowsiness and operate a vehicle.
  

Make sure to ask your teen what he or she thinks should be added as a term.
Include anything that they learned in driver's education classes and remember to include any location-dependent activities that could impact their driving.
Also, try to mention the risks that you are preventing in every term so that your teen understands that these are not groundless, arbitrary rules but safety measures with consequences when ignored.
Creating Consequences for Contract Breach A contract is only good when it has enforceable consequences for breaches in conduct.
Sometimes teenagers need more consequences than just the normal damages that result from a breach.
And when there is a breach that does not result in an accident or damages, they may need a consequence that stops them from thinking they can keep getting away with it without injury.
When developing the consequences, think about what your teen values and has shown irresponsibility in using-the car-and use that as leverage.
Since each breach in the contract will have its own level of seriousness, you may want to create a progressive chart of privileges that can be suspended.
For instance, if you find that your teen had more passengers in the car at one time than he or she should have, you can make their curfew earlier for several nights.
But if you find out they were texting while driving, you can take away the car for a week.
Remember to include your teen in the process and get their opinion of fair consequences for each term they could breach.
You may be surprised at what they come up with.
Enforcing the Contract One of the most difficult aspects of the driving contract is understanding what you must do to enforce it.
Your child may have work or school obligations that, without access to a car, will make your life more difficult and hectic.
Make sure that you and your spouse are prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to enforce the contract at any time.
Without this level of commitment, your teen will have little incentive to follow the terms.
Remember, a teen driving contract is not an empty threat and it is not a means to control your teen.
It has the potential to be a great educational tool that gives your teen real world advice while keeping him or her safe.