|
What is IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com?IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com helps hold teens accountable for their driving actions. We work to educate parents and teens on the importance of safe and conscientious driving. Our purpose is not to get teens in trouble, but rather to help them understand the dangers of unsafe driving and the responsibility of driving on our often crowded roadways. Our program helps parents monitor their teen’s driving while giving them the freedom and independence they so desire. How does IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com work?It’s easy. Once you create an account and become a member, you will enter the information for the teen and vehicles which you would like to be monitored. Upon activation, we’ll send you a package containing a uniquely identifiable bumper sticker that should be placed on the vehicle the teen operates. The bumper sticker lists both an 800 Toll Free number and website address where incidents can be reported. If an incident is reported, an email report will be sent to the registered member. You may also elect to have a report notification sent as a text message to a cell phone. Our call center is open 24/7 and is staffed by highly trained operators to make sure reports are promptly, accurately, and responsibly handled. How does someone file an incident on my teen?If someone witnesses what they believe to be unsafe operation a car with your teen’s bumper sticker on it, they can call our Toll Free number or visit our site and report it. Upon visiting http://www.IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com they will click on the section “File a Report”. Through our online form, the witness is asked to enter as much information about the vehicle, its identifiers (unique bumper sticker number, license plate number, make and model, etc.) as well as detail out what the incident was. We also encourage witnesses to provide contact information so that we can verify the report with them. This, however, is not required. We don’t want to discourage witnesses from coming forward so we allow for anonymity. A copy of the report immediately gets emailed to you with all the information that they entered. What happens if someone files an incident report against my teen?If someone files a report against your vehicle/teen, you will be immediately notified via email. The email will contain all the details of the report. The registered parent or guardian has the option of receiving an SMS/Text message to their cell phone notifying them that an email report has been sent. When will I be notified of any incidences against my registered driver?As soon as a report is received and verified, an email notification is sent. Who has access to incident reports?Reports are confidential and will not be shared or reported to other organizations even in a generic and non-identifiable way. It is strictly for your personal use to educate your child on their driving behavior. All identifiable information is deleted from our records and database after 90 days. What happens if a report is filed against my Teen/registered driver that I believe is false?We encourage you to advise us of any incident reports you suspect may not be accurate. We will flag your account so that our operators pay special attention to screening incident reports to your account. Who can participate in IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com?Anyone who has a teenager, or young driver that they would like to monitor can subscribe to IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com. Can I sign up for more than one year now, or do I have to come back each year and re-activate my registration?Subscriptions can be purchased for one or two years. You will receive an email to renew your subscriptions within 90 days of expiration. How can I get my teen to accept this monitoring program without their feeling like I don’t trust them?It’s tough to teach kids that even though we trust them, we still worry and want to protect them. At IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com we feel it’s important to establish trust by involving your teen in our program. Talk with them about it and communicate to them that this is not a punishment and one of the rules that must be followed if driving privileges are to be given. Establish a set of rules with your teen so that if an incident is filed, it’s understood by both parties that the agreement made was broken and there are consequences. Constant communication with your teen is key. Let them know that you understand driving can be an exciting experience, but also make sure they understand it can be a very dangerous for them and other innocent people if basic safe driving principles are not observed. Sometimes people contact us to compliment good driving habits or kind deeds a teen driver may exhibit. Our incident reports and telephone call center process “compliments” as well as “complaints”. Some parents setup rewards for positive feedback as well as restrictions for negative reports. Why would someone go to IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com to log a complaint instead of calling the local police?Have you ever seen something happen on the road involving a teenager and said to yourself “ If their parents only knew how they were acting!”. This information system allows concerned parents to help instill in their children good driving habits. Police don’t have the time to report this information to parents, let alone look into the incidents as they are reported. IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com will report any and all incidents to parents that have registered drivers. Why does it work?Our program works for the same reason that similar programs for commercial vehicles work. The driver of a commercial vehicle with a "How's My Driving" sticker is held accountable for their driving, and they definitely don't want to be reported for driving recklessly. Commercial programs that provide a "How's My Driving" service are reporting up to a 50% decrease in traffic accidents just by the use of the program. The system works because the employees are motivated to be good defensive drivers. What if some of my teen's schoolmates or others report my teen just "to be mean?”We respect the anonymity of the people who are willing to report the incidents, so we do not require them to identify themselves; however, we do pass some information on to you that can help you determine if the report could be just a prank. When the email is sent to the parents, it shows the report came from an anonymous source and its validity may be questionable. This should be taken into consideration while talking with the teen. Also, we take measures in our call center to decrease the possibility of repeated or fake reports being made. We are constantly improving our system to minimize the possibility of false reports from occurring. We encourage you to advise us of any suspected misinformation in reports and we alert our operators to take special care with incidents reported on your account. How long does it take to get started?After signing up, your service will be set up immediately, and your sticker and welcome packet will arrive by mail in just a few days. Why are we picking on teens?We do NOT believe that teens are bad drivers, but statistics show drivers age 15-20 accounted for 12.9 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes in 2006. We also know that teen drivers with a parent or guardian riding in the passenger seat are less likely to be involved in an accident. It’s not practical or good for the teenager to always have mom or dad right there looking over their shoulder, but knowing that the bumper sticker on the back of the car they are driving may get any “stupid” things they do reported is a very strong deterrent. It does not matter if a driver is young or old, new drivers can lack the experience to make quick and correct responses to changing traffic situations. In addition, parents and guardians have both legal and moral responsibilities to protect teens and help them grow into mature adults. This protection is the keystone to IsMyKidDrivingSafe.com. We want to create a dialogue between parents and teens, and to provide information that parents can use constructively to enhance a teen’s driving experience. Are there any additional charges I’m responsible for?Your subscription entitles you to receive the reports on your vehicle that we receive for the time period of your subscription (one or two years). There are no additional charges. What if I have two or more teenage drivers sharing the same vehicle?We do not collect personal or physical information on the driver of a vehicle. However, our reports will list the time and location of the incident and in most cases the parent or guardian should be able to determine who was driving at that time and place.
|
