Be ready for city driving

The busy, crowded environment of city driving is challenging for new drivers. City driving forces you to make lots of decisions quickly. The most important skill for drivers in these and other situations is the ability to make good decisions.

There are three things to focus on to drive safely in the city:

• Visibility: to see potential problems in all directions
• Space: to maneuver around obstacles and avoid hazards
• Time: to anticipate risks and make adjustments to speed or position

Congested city driving leaves very little room for error. Identifying and anticipating potential problems is crucial. When you are driving on city streets, be on alert for the following hazards, which are only some of the possibilities you may encounter:

• Parked cars, cars entering or exiting parking spaces, and car doors opening
• Delivery trucks stopping suddenly, with drivers racing to and from the trucks
• Buses making frequent stops, loading and unloading passengers
• Blind alleys, with cars or cyclists darting out
• Pedestrians and cyclists moving unpredictably, such as crossing streets illegally.
• Limited visibility and intersections spaced at shorter intervals
• Aggressive drivers competing for lane space and parking spots
• Stop-and-go traffic flow

Information excerpted from the Parent's Supervised Driving Guide, an exceptional resource for families with young drivers.

What you'll need before your driving skills test

Taking the driving-skills test can be an intimidating experience for a teen driver. Make sure you're well prepared beforehand to ensure you're focused on safe driving.

Before a teen driver may take the driving skills test, he or she must have successfully completed Segment 2 of the driver education course, and received the white Segment 2 Certificate of Completion. Your parent or guardian must sign a certification on your score sheet at the test confirming that you logged a minimum of 50 hours supervised driving which includes a minimum of 10 hours at night (or you must present a certification signed by a parent or guardian, if one is not at your test). You'll need to bring the Segment 2 Certificate of Completion, your Level 1 License and a valid vehicle registration and proof of insurance to the test. You must be accompanied by a parent, guardian, or an adult approved in writing by a parent or guardian.

Driving skills tests are provided by independent third-party testing organizations approved by the department. The driving skills test consists of two parts, a basic control skills test and an on-the-road driving test.

Find a driving skills test administrator near you with this regularly updated list:

• Driving Skills Testing Locator by County

"Remember that driving requires your complete attention and that unexpected events can happen very quickly, leaving little time to react. Plan ahead."

Ruth Johnson
Secretary of State

Move Over!

When you see an emergency vehicle or tow truck pulled over with its emergency lights on, by law you must move over at least one lane or two vehicle widths.

If you can't move over, you must slow down. Violators face fines and jail.

Learn more.

Teaching tip for parents

Let your teen know that, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seat belts save more than 13,000 lives every year and that buckling up is the single most effective thing that people can do to protect themselves in a crash.

Michigan law requires:

• All front-seat passengers to be buckled up (including the driver)
• All passengers under age 16 to be buckled up, in all seating positions
• All children under age 8 to be in an approved child safety seat or booster seat, in all seating positions, unless 4 feet 9 inches or taller.

Learn more about the importance of seat belt use and watch a 30-second video on the subject especially tailored to teens on the NHTSA's  Parents Central website.

The 100 deadliest days

The National Safety Council warns parents and teens of the 100 Deadliest Days - the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day when a high number of fatal crashes involving teen drivers occur.

Teens tend to drive the way they think their passengers want them to drive, according to an expert in young driver behavior quoted by the Detroit Free Press.

But the key to prevention of crashes is the effort parents put in to ensure their teens drive safely.