Is Your Teen Driver Prepared? [AUDIO]

When it comes to coaching their teen behind the wheel, many New Jersey parents are taking a back seat.

That's according to new research from The Allstate Foundation, which also shows that 48 percent of parents regret not monitoring their teen driver after they got their license and 69 percent wish they spent more time practicing driving with their teen in high-risk situations.

The Allstate Foundation is helping the National Safety Council launch Drive it Home, a new program offering special resources to help parents keep their teens safer on the road.

Why aren't parents spending the time?

"Parents don't understand the most deadly risks to their teens safety on the roads. Forty-six percent of New Jersey parents don't know that car crashes are actually the number one killer of teens and more than 30 percent of parents aren't teaching their teens to manage the highest risk driving situations like night time driving and driving with young passengers," said Danny Jovic, spokesperson for Allstate New Jersey.

"In fact, 69 percent of parents wish they spent more time practicing with their teens driving in these high-risk situations and the teens agree. Sixty percent of New Jersey teens wish their parents spent the time coaching them in those high-risk situations."

The Allstate Foundation and National Safety Council urge parents to take these simple steps with their teen driver:

• Drive at least 30 minutes each week with a newly licensed teen.
• Practice specific skills together and provide teens with feedback in the following critical areas: Scanning the road ahead to recognize and respond to hazards; Controlling speed, stopping, turning and following distance; Judging the gap between vehicles in traffic - such as exiting parking lots and left-hand turns.
• Managing the highest risks, such as night driving and driving with young passengers.

A Drive it Home Show will be held in Middletown on Wednesday, May 15 at the MIddletown Arts Center at 36 Church Street in Middletown. For more information and for additional tips, go to their website.