If you have a new teen driver in your house, then you might want to have a teen driving contract in place. I created this teen driving contract so that I can have more peace of mind with my new sixteen year old out on the roads. Print out the teen driving contract so you and your teen can have an open dialogue about this exciting milestone!
I can hardly believe it, but my oldest child, my daughter, is turning sixteen years old this week! When I started this blog, she was only ten years old. Cue the tears! I know that somebody is super excited about this milestone birthday and that would be my daughter! She has been awaiting this day for many months. While some teens are not ready or interested in starting to drive, my daughter made sure that she completed all of her learning to drive requirements in time so that she could get her license on her actual birthday.
Preparing for a New Teen Driver
One of the biggest milestones for a teenager is getting their license. It is a really exciting time of life for a teen. But with this big milestone comes a whole lot of responsibility for teens. Not to mention the worry that parents and maybe even teens will experience.
To prepare your family for a new teen driver, it helps to have open communication and to be on the same page. You will want to talk with your teen about all of your expectations and rules when it comes to driving. Teens might do everything to push those boundaries. However, when you have very clear expectations with your teen, you are able to point them back to those rules when they get off course.
One of the biggest steps towards becoming an independent adult is learning how to drive. It is also one of the biggest responsibilities in a teen’s life. There are a lot of things that can happen when driving a car. It is really important that you and your teen talk about the risks.
Before your teen leaves the house in the car on their own for the first time, it is good to have a driving agreement in place.
Printable Teen Driver Contract
I’ve created the teen driver contract not only for my own family, but so that you can use this printable as well. I have included a few spots to customize the contract based on your own family’s rules. It is really good to keep things concise and clear with teens. If you set too many rules and too many complicated stipulations, you are likely to have a teen tune out and shut down.
Your family’s driving rules might change over time as your teen gets more experience. So I would suggest revisiting the teen driving contract every six months. Perhaps things change like the curfew, the number of passengers you will allow in the car and the specific requirements to maintain use of the family car.
Will you teen rejoice at the opportunity to sign a teen driver contract? Probably not! But are they ready to have the fun and freedom that comes with driving a car? Absolutely!
What Is Included in a Teen Driver Contract
A teen driving contract includes the rules that you teen must follow in order to be allowed to drive and utilize a family car. Perhaps your teen is very lucky and will be getting their own car. There should still be very clear rules about driving their own car.
The biggest points you want to get across to your teen is that they must follow all driving laws. This includes things like speed limits, texting while driving, wearing a seatbelt and following traffic laws. Failure to do so could result in serious harm to themselves, their passengers and other people on the roads.
You also want to include rules about curfew, number of passengers allowed at one time and where and when they are allowed to drive.
If your teen is using a family car, you want to decide if they will be responsible for some of the gas money. What happens when the gas tank is low? Does your teen need to notify you about their whereabouts?
Who are they allowed to drive in the car? Will you require them to text you when they arrive at their location?
It is easier to set rules from the beginning then to have to add them as you go along. However, as the parent, you are able to modify or add rules at any time that you feel is necessary!
You will have some of your own requirements for your teen driver.
Other rules you might want to include:
- Financial responsibility including insurance, gas and car payments.
- How far they are allowed to drive.
- Where they are allowed to drive.
- When they must notify you that they want to use the car.
- How often they are allowed to use the car.
What happens when my teen does not follow the contract?
It is important that you make it clear to your teenager what will happen when they do not follow one or more of the rules in the driving contract. Unfortunately, some teens might have natural consequences when they do not follow driving rules like getting a speeding ticket or getting into a fender bender. Hopefully your teen is able to avoid these consequences.
If you realize your teen is not holding up their end of the driving contract, you will want to decide what will happen next.
Will your teen lose their driving privileges for a set amount of time?
Does your teen need to financial contribute to car expenses?
Will your teen need to improve their academic standing before they have full rights to the family car?
Talk with your teen when you are looking over the teen driver contract about what the potential consequences will be. It is better for both parties to know what the punishment will be before it happens. Then, you do not have to make a quick decision in the heat of the moment.
Teenager Driver Contract Printable
Are you ready for your teenager to start driving? Print out the free printable teen driver contract today!
Letting Your Teen Take the Wheel
Nothing really prepares you for what comes with parenting teenagers! It can be a season of life that comes with many highs and lows. Some of the greatest joys of parenting teenagers is watching them hit these big milestones of life!
The older my kids get, I realize I am just a passenger in their lives. It is fun to watch them grow and develop into older versions of themselves!
More posts on parenting teens you might like:
Screen Time Checklist Printable
How to Get Kids to Do Chores in the Summer
How to Stay Connected with Tweens and Teens
Wow- this is incredible Jaclyn- thanks so much for sharing- will be facing this in less than a year!
This is such a smart idea. Just this weekend I told my daughter she could take two friends somewhere and then she added a third friend without asking me!