Would You Let Your Teen Drive The Causeway Bridge (26 miles) Every Day for School?

Seth Smiley here from the Smiley Law Firm with today’s edition of the Parents of Teen Drivers Facebook Group. Today’s topic is interesting: “Would You Let Your Teen Drive The Causeway Bridge (26 miles) Every Day for School?”

It is an important issue to discuss. We all want better teen driver safety, and there are risks involved with a long commute to school.

I was recently talking to a friend of mine, who happens to sell insurance. We talked about the fact that he lives on the North Shore and his son goes to Jesuit school here in New Orleans. It is around a 30-mile commute.

The Causeway Bridge alone is 26 miles of driving over the Pontchartrain Lake.

So, it is a long commute, and also over a congested bridge waterway experience…we have all heard about the potential for more accidents in this situation.

He mentions that when his son can start driving and is comfortable with it, his other son will also be in the car to go to school. There are many issues with this situation.

I mentioned that I have this Parents of Teen Drivers group, and we often discuss issues like this. We went through the problems, and he said I had talked him out of letting the kids drive across the bridge forever.

It doesn’t have to be that drastic of a decision, but the point is that there are many layers to the issues involved here.

The first is… it’s the morning, and the kids are potentially tired. You have a long commute through a congested two-lane highway that’s going southbound. Or northbound on the way back, when your teen driver may feel tired and catch the rush hour traffic.

It all adds more elements to a higher likelihood of accidents or distracted driving.

When you add that another teen will be in the vehicle with them, that Increases the chances of something dangerous happening.

Carpools can be a great idea, but having extra people in the car often leads to more accidents… it lends itself, especially if you do it every morning and afternoon, to the chances being a lot higher that your teen is going to be involved in some type of accident.

Hopefully, it is only something small.

We considered these things, and how nice it would be to have the teens drive their siblings back and forth to school. If it is a short distance, things might be different and a reasonably safe option.

By the end of our conversation, we decided that he has a lot of work on the South Shore, and he is now going to be looking forward to having some quality time with him and his kids as he drives them to school and back for the next couple of years.

It is one of those things where if we set ourselves up for success, as with anything in life, then the likelihood of things going well is higher.

Luck is a thing, but many folks say luck has to do with preparation and opportunity.

Don’t be a victim of circumstance. Make it possible for your kids to be in the position to have the highest percentage of success while they are on the road.

You can’t prevent everything but can get your teen drivers into the best situations possible.

Tell us your thoughts about “Would You Let Your Teen Drive The Causeway Bridge (26 miles) Every Day for School?” We love hearing your comments.