Survey: Young Moms More Likely to Snoop on Teen Drivers

Aug 13 2009 by Jennifer Newman

Getting a driver’s license is an important milestone in a teenager’s life. For parents of teens, it opens a new avenue of worries and fears — that lead to more gray hairs — about what their children are doing when they’re behind the wheel. In a MotherProof.com survey, we asked moms if they’d use technology to snoop on their teen drivers.

Our survey of mothers with 15- to 19-year-olds in the house found that two-thirds of moms surveyed don’t use technology to snoop on their teen drivers. However, 59 percent of younger moms — ages 25-34 — said they have used a camera or GPS system in their teen’s car. That number surprised us. Forty-three percent of moms ages 35-44 said they would use a device to spy on their teen driver, and only 27 percent of moms ages 45-54 said they would do so.

Younger moms also said they’d be more likely to second-guess their teen’s driving habits. Here’s what the moms told us in our survey:

• 57 percent of moms 25-34 have followed their child in traffic to see where they’re going and to investigate their driving habits, versus 29 percent of moms 35-44 and 18 percent of moms 45-54

• 70 percent of moms 25-34 have investigated the contents of their teen’s car, versus 52 percent of moms 35-44 and 50 percent of moms 45-54

• 65 percent of moms 25-34 regularly check the miles on their teen’s car to see how much they’re driving, versus 39 percent of moms 35-44 and 27 percent of moms 45-54

So why is it that younger moms are more willing to snoop on their kids once they become teen drivers? Could it be they remember their own teen years and realize some oversight might be warranted? Forget Big Brother; we’re talking about Big Mother.

These younger mothers might be onto something. A 2009 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that in-car devices help teens be safer drivers. The devices used in the IIHS study flag risky behavior — such as speeding, aggressive driving and not wearing a seat belt — and some of those devices reported those behaviors to a secure website that parents could check.

There are several kinds of in-car monitoring devices. Some have GPS capabilities and others provide feedback through alerts.

• Basic system: This uses a car’s onboard diagnostics recorder to store trip information (CarChip or Road Safety International).

• GPS-based system: This device stores information about a car’s location, speed and direction. Some will give feedback to the driver; real-time systems can call, email or text parents about their teens’ driving (Inthinc).

• Video system: DriveCam uses a camera mounted under the rearview mirror to record images and sound inside the car, as well as images of the road ahead. This system saves the images if a crash or risky driving occurs. The information is sent to a center where it’s analyzed.

• Smart keys: Ford offers MyKey, which allows parents to set limits on teens’ driving. Using a special key, parents can limit a teen’s speed to 80 mph and specify a maximum stereo volume. The system comes standard on many 2010 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.

American Family Insurance also offers insured parents free monitoring devices as part of its Teen Safe Driver Program.

There’s a downside to using these devices in that they can lead to boundary and trust issues, which is problematic for any relationship, but especially those with a teen — as if the teen years aren’t hard enough already. Another way to establish your family’s rules of the road with your teen is with a driving contract. Contracts are a good first step for outlining your expectations with your teen. They’re available here and here.

Whether parents decide to go the high-tech route or use a driving contract, it’s always a good idea to discuss safe-driving habits with your teen drivers before they get behind the wheel for the first time.

The MotherProof.com survey was conducted online with a random sample of 1,032 women 25-54 years of age who have a child in their household who is 15-19 years old. Survey respondents were carefully selected to closely match U.S. population demographics, and the respondents are representative of the random sample.

Research was conducted in November 2008 by Impulse Research on behalf of MotherProof.com. The overall sampling error rate for this survey is plus or minus 3 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence.

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