When your 16-year-old gets his or her driver's license, the law is “no passengers” for the first year other than a parent, guardian, or other licensed adult 25 years or older (there are few exceptions). Your teen's first year of driving holds the highest risk for injury and death. With a teen passenger, this already-frightening risk doubles; more than one teenage passenger quadruples it!

If you allow your teen to drive with others in the car while provisionally licensed, you will have negligently entrusted the car to your teen and will have unlimited financial responsibility for all injuries and damages caused in case of an accident. And an accident involving a teen driver who is killed while driving more often than not also involves the death of another person, i.e., a passenger, pedestrian, or the other driver.

Peer pressure can make it hard to refuse permission to your teen to drive others, but your response to the request can be simple: “I'm sorry, but I will not give you permission to break the law.”

If your teen cannot follow this rule, bus passes are available online.