A new license is a big day, and the riskiest stretch of your teen’s driving life. Crash risk is highest in the first months after a teen starts driving alone (CDC).
Use this checklist to cover the basics before the first solo drive, and the habits that carry them through the first year.
Before the first solo drive
The first six months
Limit the riskiest conditions while your teen builds experience.
| Share of the day | 38% |
|---|---|
| Share of teen crash deaths | 44% |
Source: CDC
The 5 to Drive rules
NHTSA’s five rules for teen drivers make a good backbone for your agreement.
- No drinking and drivingNot one drink. Not one ride with a driver who has had one.
- Buckle upEvery trip, every time, front seat and back.
- Put it downOne text or call could wreck it all.
- Stop speedingBefore it stops you.
- One passengerNo more than one at a time.
0people killed in 2024
- Teen drivers752 32%
- Their passengers478 21%
- Everyone else in those crashes1,090 47%
Every drive
Talk about drives, not just rules
Once a week, look back at a few drives together. Celebrate the smooth ones. Ask about the one with a hard stop before you assume anything: sometimes braking hard was exactly the right call.
Loosen the rules as your teen earns it, and say so out loud when you do.
Where AngelDrive fits
AngelDrive is a free family safety app for iPhone and Android. Your family sees who’s driving and who’s home on one map, and every drive saves on its own with a trip score for speed, smoothness and phone focus, so your weekly check-in has something real to look at. Your teen sees their own drives and scores too.
If AngelDrive notices signs of a possible crash, it asks the driver first and opens a step-by-step crash guide. It’s free because a law firm sponsors it, and it never sells your data or shares it with insurers.
Sources
More guides
Teen drivers
Teen driver apps for parents: what to look for
What a good teen driver app does, the questions to ask before you install one, and how to set it up with your teen so it helps instead of hovers.
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A calm, minute-by-minute list for the first 10 minutes after a crash: check for injuries, get safe, call for help, exchange information and take photos.
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What a drive score measures, and what it doesn’t
Driving apps score each trip out of 100. Here is what goes into a drive score (speed, smoothness and phone use), what it can’t see, and how to raise yours.
