Prom season is here; Tips help keep teens safe

With spring comes thoughts of school proms. AAA reminds parents to take an active role in helping their teens navigate prom season successfully.

· Distractions can be a killer. Ask teens to put cell phones away. Encourage teens’ fellow passengers to be sensitive to the traffic scenarios and challenges the driver may be facing and to be a help, not a hindrance;

· If a large group wants to travel together, consider hiring a chauffeur, instead of packing more than four teens in a car;

· Each year, drinking and driving causes crashes that take the lives of many teens across Oklahoma. Parents need to stress again and again the importance of driving sober. If teens go in a limo, know that company’s policy on alcohol in the vehicle;

· Proms often last until the wee hours. Remind teens to not drive if they’re feeling drowsy;

· Many teens are not drivers, they’re passengers. Impress upon them the need to urge drivers to drive safely and that if the teens feel unsafe due to the driver’s behavior or condition, ask to be let out and to call a parent for a ride;

· Always wear seat belts and ask that others in the vehicle buckle up, also;

· Communication is the key. Parents and teens need to sit down and discuss these rules and others as well as the consequences for breaking them. Talk about curfews and what post-prom parties teens may be going to.