Susan Pikrallidas: Graduated licenses for teen drivers

Susan G. Pikrallidas

Susan G. Pikrallidas oversees Public Affairs functions, Traffic Safety Services, Association Communication and Community & International Relations for the American Automobile Association. Prior to joining AAA 20 years ago, Susan worked on Capitol Hill with the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College and Georgetown University Law Center, and a member of the Virginia State Bar.

Q: What are some of the issues parents should consider before allowing their teenagers to get a drivers' license?

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Susan Pikrallidas: First, they should consider that teenagers are immature and they're inexperienced. So the whole point is that before teenagers are allowed to get behind the wheel of a car that can cause so much damage, they need to think about ways to phase their teens into driving so that when they do get their license to drive alone, they can do it responsibly in a way that reflects some experience behind the wheel.

Q: After teens start driving, what are the most important steps a parent can take to protect a young, inexperienced driver?

Susan Pikrallidas: Spend a lot of time with them. Some states require 50 hours of parental involvement with their child. We think that's a minimum. We think that during the period between 16 and 17 in particular, the time a parent can spend in the car teaching their child what they know about driving and all of the pitfalls that you can run into when driving is time well spent. Children look up to their parents, whether parents recognize that or not, and parents have a world of experience that they can give to their child at that particular time.

Q: Should parents limit the amount of time their teenager is on the road after the child has already received a license with full driving privileges from the state?

Susan Pikrallidas: Particularly during that phase in period between 16 and 17 -- because drivers at 16 and 17 have become a real problem -- [parents should] limit the time they're on the road, especially at night because that's the most dangerous time of day for everyone; limit the number of teen passengers in the car -- a lot of states already have that restriction; then just let the teen drive by him or herself, but spend as much time as they can teaching him/her about driving.

Q: What would you encourage parents who have a tendency to comment at every opportunity while their teen is driving to do differently so they don't become more of a distraction to their child than a helpful guide?

Susan Pikrallidas: That's an interesting question because AAA, as part of this License to Learn campaign, is reinventing driver education. We have effectively come up with a program that we are in the final stages of testing that is based on research that tells us what causes teenage crashes -- is it inattentive driving, is it things outside the car? And based on those 2000 crashes, we built a whole new driver education program that's geared to teaching kids about those. We also came up with a product called Teaching Our Teens to Drive which helps parents know how to teach their kids when they're in the car with kids. So a combination of those two things, I think, would give parents advice on how to interact with their child in the car--what not to do and what to do.

Q: Where can parents get the manual/kit?

Susan Pikrallidas: You can get Teaching Our Kids to Drive at any AAA club or our national office.

Q: How do you respond to the criticism that graduated licenses take a "one size fits all" solution which doesn't translate between young urban drivers on crowded roads and young rural drivers who are facing serious school/work transportation issues?

Susan Pikrallidas: All teens -- and research has shown this -- are inexperienced drivers, whether it be inexperienced in cities or in rural areas. All teens have immature judgment and regardless of whether you're in an urban area or a rural area, when you're getting behind a machine that can cause so much damage, it requires certain skills.