PennDOT has provided a book with teaching tips for parents before, but the new program is used in several states already and also offers an app for parents to use, said Jan McKnight, community relations coordinator for the department.
"The Parent's Supervised Driving Program" is available now at every driver's license center in the state and will be given to all teens when they obtain their learner's permit.
Book, app: The booklet is geared for parent teachers and includes tips for helping their teens learn to drive in all environments, park correctly and navigate unique features, including roundabouts, safely.
It also gives "parental pointers" — additional tips and information.
The curriculum replaces a similar program, "Tutor them to safe driving," McKnight said. But with partners State Farm and Sheetz, the department will save about $70,000 annually in printing costs for the curriculum.
The app that accompanies the curriculum is also a huge bonus, McKnight said. RoadReady is free and available for download on all mobile devices.
Parents can create an account to keep a running log of their teen's driving history. Each teen is required to log 55 hours of driving before they can test for their license, and those hours need to include certain amounts of time driving on different road types and in varying conditions such as inclement weather.
The app is GPS-enabled so that once the parent starts a drive on the app, they don't have to look at it again until the car is in park, McKnight said.
"It's to help parents and their teens realize that when you're driving, that's all you should be doing," she said.
The curriculum was developed by the Safe Roads Alliance, a nonprofit organization, and is also used in 14 other states and the District of Columbia, according to its website.
©2014 The York Dispatch (York, Pa.)
