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Everyone please remain safe out on the roads.

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Be Aware

Did You Know?

A learner’s permit for a teen under 17 ½ IS NOT VALID until the student is enrolled in driver training and has one lesson from a driving school.

DRIVING WITH AN INVALID PERMIT IS CONSIDERED DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE.

This can result in the following:

The teen driver will lose permit privileges until the age of 18.

ADULTS accompanying the teen face fines up to $1,000 and suspension of

their own license for up to 1 year.

Any claims that result from collisions by the teen may be REFUSED by insurance

companies, since the teen is considered unlicensed.

DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

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Driving With Distractions

We've seen it all too often. Someone’s driving down the road swerving back and forth in their lane. You pull up to them only to realize they are wolfing down a number one from McDonalds. With an extra large drink in one hand and a burger in the other they have disregarded their safety and the safety of the others around them. Eating and driving is just one in a long list of distractions that drivers can easily avoid. And although teenagers are not the only group of drivers who are guilty of getting distracted, they by far make up the biggest majority. The most common distractions and how to avoid them are as follows.


1) Friends: You like them a lot, but none of you are going to be very happy when you rear end another vehicle or goes careening off the road due to their distractive behaviors. That’s not to say they have to sit in their seats with their legs folded reading a Nicholas Sparks novel. They need to make sure they don’t block your vision spots. Cars have big enough blind spots as it is. They should also be relatively quiet, allowing you to hear crosswalk beeps, horns, sirens, or any other unexpected event that can occur while you are driving.

2) Cell Phones: As mentioned in a previous post dedicated completely to this subject cell phones are a top collision causer in drivers, especially teenagers. The new hands free and texting law is in effect as of this year which try to combat this problem. Failure to comply with these laws will result in a penalty.

3) Eating/Drinking: As mentioned above eating and/or drinking while driving is a bad idea. Doing so ties up your hands and delays your reaction time to unexpected events. If you have to eat and/or drink pull over to a rest stop or just wait until you reach your destination to consume your items.

4) Radio/CD/Ipod: Electronics devices in general are a top factor in collisions. This is increased tenfold in teenagers. Fumbling with your favorite CD's will inevitably end up with your car in the ditch and the CD's smashed into your dashboard. Ipods carry with them the same dangers. Scrolling through play lists will lead to delayed reaction times and a greater increase in a collision. Plus, no matter what song is playing, it’s not going to be very good theme music while you’re car is colliding with another car.

5) Reading: I know you’re shocked. Reading and teenager in the same sentence. Although it’s not likely to be the latest Harry Potter novel, rather the directions to the place they are trying to find, it is dangerous none the less. Mapquest directions should be thoroughly looked at before the trip is underway, and only glanced at for very short periods of times while the teenager is driving.

Above all stay focused. Those two squirrels fighting over an acorn aren’t worth totaling your car over. At the speed automobiles travel, things occur at split second speeds. Give the road your full attention and focus, just like the game you want to play or the gossip you want to talk about when you get home, which is what you’ll be able to do, if and only if you drive smart.

The Steps to Obtain a License for Minors

Obtaining one's license is arguably a top highlight of your teenage years. The ability to have the freedom to drive yourself anyplace brings with it a sense of self gratification and accomplishment few other things in life can deliver. The process by which to obtain one's license can often be confusing, and many people are unsure of how the process works. This post will tell you how to correctly obtain your license in the state of California.


Step 1: Complete Drivers Education
A teenager will need to complete a drivers education program. This can be done at a number of different places.
1) Done through a licensed DMV school-----A school like this offers the drivers education in a classroom, much like a high school, but done in a fraction of the time. (Note: by completing drivers education in classroom by a licensed driving school, the teenager can show the completion of drivers education certificate to their high school, thereby receiving school credit for the program)**Best Option**
2) Done at the students high school----------A school like this will allow the student to complete the drivers education program, but comes with limitations. The class will last for a a semester or 1/2 a semester at the teenagers high school. Often the classroom will have many students in it and the students only need to pass with a C. This usually leads to a poor result on the permit test, which results in a failure to obtain the permit.**Ok Option**
3) Done through an online company----------A school like this must be an online company that is has a DMV approved program. Students who lack direction or are distracted easily are strongly recommended not to use this option. (Exception: If a student is forced to do the online option, it is best to use a school who also offers drivers education in class; so that if a student does not like the online program he/she can take drivers education in the classroom, assuming there will be no extra charge.)**Worst Option(with exception)**

After a teenager completes the drivers education from any one of these three sources, they will be issued a DMV certificate stating they have met the requirements for a drivers education course.


Step 2: Enroll in Drivers Training
A teenager must enroll in drivers training. This will allow them to get a DMV certificate stating that they have enrolled in the drivers training program. In addition to these two certificates a student will also need all the items or meet the requirements listed below.


• Be at least 15 ½
• Visit a DMV office (make an appointment for faster service)
• Complete the application form DL 44 (An original DL 44 form must be submitted. Copies obtained by Xeroxing, faxing, or other methods will not be accepted.)
• Have your parents' or guardians' signatures on the application form DL 44 (both parents must sign if dual custody is held)
• Give a thumb print
• Have your picture taken
• Provide your social security number(card not needed). It will be verified with the Social Security Administration while you are in the office.
• Verify your birth date and legal presence with a birth certificate(original or certified copy only)
• Provide your true full name
• Pay the $28 application fee (This fee entitles you to three exams of any type within the 12-month period and pays for both the instruction permit and the driver license. If all requirements are not met within the 12-month period, the application becomes void and all steps must be completed again.)
• Pass a vision exam
• Pass a traffic laws and sign test aka the Permit Test. There are 46 questions on the test. A passing score is at least 39 correct answers. If you fail, you must wait 7 days before taking it again. You have three chances to pass the test.


Step 3: Schedule your lessons
After the teenager has obtained a permit they can not drive immediately afterward. They must first have one lesson with a licensed driving school. This can be done by contacting the school and scheduling a lesson. From the issuance of the permit a student has a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months to complete a six hour program with the licensed driving school; addition to completing fifty hours at home with their parents. If a student fails to complete the program with in a 12 month period the student will have to begin the permit process from the beginning. At the end of the last lesson with the driving school, the teenager will be issued a certificate stating that the 6 hour program has been completed with the licensed school.


Step 4: Taking Your Test
After the teenager has completed the fifty hours of in car training in addition to the 6 hours with the licensed school, and has had their permit for 6 months they can then take their behind the wheel test at the DMV. This test is given by appointment ONLY. Make sure that the teenager has had their parents signature stating fifty hours of training has been completed by their parents or legal guardians in addition to the teenager having the certificate for completing the 6 hour program.

Hope this post helped. Feel free to leave us a comment with any questions you may have.

Texting and Driving

Text messaging has become a necessity for today's technology driven teens. Their cell phones have become an extension of themselves. From conversations about the hottest movie, to who their best friends are dating; it seems texting has become their number one form of communication. There is one aspect in their lives where cell phones do not belong, and that is while they are operating a motor vehicle. As of July 2008 cell phones are not allowed to be used vocally while driving, unless the person had a hands-free device(with minors being banned from using cell phones altogether).

Starting January 1st 2009 there will be a similar ban on texting while driving(1). This might come as a surprise to many of the drivers on the road, much like the vocal ban in July 2008. Violating this law is punishable by a base fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense. With the addition of penalty assessments, fines can be more than triple the base fine amount. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that motorists who use cellphones while driving are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves(2). Although this ban might seem like a major inconvenience to the public, it will without a doubt help prevent collisions on the nations roads.

A study by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in 2005 found that cell phone distractions result in 2,600 deaths and 330,000 serious injuries every year; in the U.S. alone(3). The study also found that drivers talking on cell phones were 18 percent slower to react to brake lights and took 17 percent longer to get back up to speed each time after they applied their brakes.

Pictures, in addition to the stories of driving and using a cell phone, can be seen by clicking here **Note: no graphic pictures are shown**

A list of all the new DMV laws and regulations effective January 1st 2009 are available by clicking here.

Any questions or comments can be left here, or by e-mailing the editor directly at Peter@bonddrivingschool.com




Citation
(1) http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/no_text_law.htm
(2) http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/insurance/cellphones/
(3) http://www.livescience.com/technology/050201_cell_danger.html