Effectiveness of a parent-directed teen driver safety intervention translated for delivery by driver education instructors

Background/Purpose: The Checkpoints Program (Checkpoints) uses a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement (PTDA) to help parents monitor teen driving, and has shown efficacy in increasing parental restrictions on teens' driving, and decreasing teens' risky driving. Research staff administered Checkpoints in previous trials. This CDC-funded study examined the effectiveness of Checkpoints when delivered by driver educators. It was hypothesized that Checkpoints would result in more PTDA use, greater PTDA limits on higher risk driving situations, and less high-risk driving. Methods: Eight trained driving instructors were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Instructors enrolled 148 parent-teen dyads (intervention=99, control=49); 35% of those eligible. Intervention parents joined their teens for a 30-minute Checkpoints session during driver education class. The session included persuasive messages, discussion, and initiation of a PTDA. Teens completed four survey waves: baseline, licensure, and 3- and 6-months post-licensure. Results/Outcomes: Intervention teens were more likely to report that their parents used a PTDA (OR=15.92, p=.004) and restricted teens' driving with teen passengers (OR=8.52, p=.009), on weekend nights (OR=8.71, p=.021), on high-speed roads (OR=3.56, p=.02), and in bad weather (b=0.51, p=.05) during the first six months of licensure. There were no differences in offenses or crashes at six months, but intervention teens reported less high-risk driving (p=.04). Conclusions: While challenges remain to encourage greater parent participation, a Checkpoints program conducted by driver education instructors resulted in higher use of the PTDA, greater high-risk driving restrictions, and lower high-risk driving. Including Checkpoints in driver education parent meetings/classes has potential to enhance teen driver safety.