Interesting New Program Monitors Teen Driving

According to Arkansas State Police, more than 3,000 Sebastian County teenagers were involved in auto accidents in 2006. Luckily, there is an interesting new national program that may help reduce that number. 

This new program, titled Teen Spy, uses bumper stickers to track teenagers' driving habits. Parents are able to register their teen's tag number through the Teen Spy program.

The bumper sticker, which reads "How's My Teen's Driving?" will be attached to the teenager's car. If other drivers perceive your teen's driving as hazardous to other drivers, they can report your child by calling a toll free number. Teen Spy will then notify the parents and tell them exactly what other drivers noticed their teen doing.

The program is the brain-child of a Michigan couple whom used a bumper sticker with their personal phone numbers to monitor their own son's driving. When other parents expressed interest in doing the same, the couple launched Teen Spy. 

Local parents and teens, such as parent Tawanna Westphal, are very optimistic about this idea. Westphal says, "I think it would be wonderful. I mean, the teens out there, they get reckless and you know. They think they're adults, and really, they're not."  

Soon-to-be-teen-driver Lee Cooper says he wouldn't mind at all if his mother wanted to have a Teen Spy bumper sticker for his car. Cooper is confident that his parents trust him and says, "If you think they should trust you, then there is no reason for you not to have it because that means you aren't doing anything wrong." 

Hopefully, the Teen Spy program will significantly reduce the number of teens involved in automotive accidents in both Sebastian County and around the country. For more information about Teen Spy, visit their website.