Liz Atwood talks about setting an example for her kids when she drives in this week's Tween Tuesday:  

Maryland has banned talking on cell phones and texting while driving. Speed cameras are going up in many counties. But how safe is your driving? 
         
A new  national survey commissioned by Ford Motor Co. finds that teens and tweens say their parents are riskier drivers than they claim.  While nearly all parents say they are safe drivers and good role models for their kids, the survey found 82 percent of teens report seeing their parents be careless behind the wheel.
        
I can’t recall my tween ever telling me to slow down. He usually says I’m driving too slow and can’t understand why I don’t pass a car even if there is a yellow line on my side. But my soon-to-be 15 year old has taken note, at times telling me to watch the road if I seem distracted.

The Ford survey found that three quarters of tweens say they will rely heavily on their parents' advice when they start to drive. I think it’s true. I remember very little about what my driver’s ed teacher told me, but I well remember my father fussing at me when I rolled through a stop sign on a rural road near our home when I still had my learner’s permit. To this day, I always hear my father’s voice if I don’t stop completely at a stop sign.

It won’t be long before I’ll be the one in the passenger’s seat teaching a teen to drive. But in some real ways, I’m already teaching my children by the example I set.

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