Physiologically speaking, teenagers should be good drivers. Their ability to see, hear and react is at its peak.

Statistics, however, reveal that an alarming number of teenage drivers are involved in traffic fatalities and disabling accidents each year. In 1994, Kentucky crashes involving teenage drivers resulted in 142 deaths; 94 of those killed were teenagers.

"The problem with teenage drivers is that driving is not dependent only upon one's physical condition," says Pam Kidd, Ph.D. "Driving has a thinking and emotional component that many teens are inadequately prepared to handle."

Kidd manages the Motor Vehicle Injury Prevention Program at the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center at University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center. The Center advocates a program known as graduated licensing which phases in the driving privilege and creates a three-step licensing process. It includes strategies for enforcing rules and imposes strict sanctions for violations. Other features of teenage crashes - including excessive speed, nighttime driving and driving solo - are addressed in the graduated licensing program.

Graduated licensing is endorsed by the National Association of Independent Insurers, the National Safety Council, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and others who want to put the brakes on teen driving crashes. "The approach works," says Kidd, "because it allows teens to develop driving skills over time".

"Additional privileges are achieved as teenagers gain experience and demonstrate responsible driving," she says. "Teens don't feel hassled to rush out and get their license before they are ready. Under this system, they can't."

Until such a system is in place (legislation will be introduced to the 1996 Kentucky General Assembly), there are strategies parents can adopt to ensure that teens driver safer and smarter.

"Think aloud when your teen is in the car with you," says Kidd. "Explain what is going on in your brain as well as with your hands and feet to encourage them to talk to you about driving defensively. Often teens are afraid to bring up driving situations that frighten them for fear that you won't let them drive if they do. Giving adolescents permission to ask you questions and confide in you creates an open environment for family problem-solving.

"Sometimes it is as simple as changing the time of a music lesson so that your teen doesn't have to drive on a busy road during rush hour," she says. "Although we'd all like to buy the safest car on the market with all the latest safety features, most of the time, we're dealing with shuffling the family car around. Adults have to realize that they have a lot of experience driving the car that their teenager does not," says Kidd. "Any advantage such as installing spot mirrors or adjusting the seat or the steering column provides an inexperienced driver with greater control over the vehicle."

Other safety measures include making sure your teen wears a belt and should harness and looks both ways twice before pulling out onto the road. Have your teen practice braking on wet and dry surfaces. Check out the people your teens are driving with and the vehicles they are riding in. Finally, consider limiting the number of passengers to the number of seat belts in the car and restricting teen drivers from playing the radio loudly, eating or drinking in the car, or talking on the car phone.

Rural teens face additional challenges when driving on two-lane roads with narrow shoulders. Curves on the road are not well marked, the roads themselves are not well lit and often have dangerous intersections at the bottom of a hill. Teens who have grown up on farms often have driver farm vehicles at an early age and tend to overestimate their driving skills. In Kentucky, on 20 percent of all teens complete driver's education.

"The value of drivers ed is that it exposes students to risky situations so they truly understand what the odds are when they approach an intersection or a four-way stop. Sometimes teens have a tendency to be more emotional than rational in their driving. They believe they are invulnerable to death and disability. Obviously, we need to raise the issue without frightening them so much that they won't undertake driving," says Kidd.

Crashes which kill and disable teens involve alcohol, speeding, the failure to wear seat belts and should harnesses.

"New drinkers haven't built up a tolerance to alcohol and drugs, so it takes less of a substance to produce a negative effect on their ability to react quickly to adverse conditions," says Kidd. "This is why zero alcohol tolerance is emphasized in graduated licensing."