An in-depth look at parent-imposed driving rules: their strengths and weaknesses.

Introduction: With a growing interest in increasing parental involvement in teen driving, it is important to find out what parents are already doing.

Method: This study assessed the content, delivery, rigidity, and consequences of 143 driving rules reported by 24 parent-teen dyads.

Results: Strengths included that driving rules covered the full range of concerns, especially night driving limits and passenger limits, and most parents and teens reported that violations would be followed by consequences, especially talk/warn or no driving. Weaknesses included that many rules were not very strict and only half showed parent-teen agreement on content.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that teen driving rules are not clearly defined.