Objectives: We describe intervention effects on parent limits on novice teenage driving.
Methods: We recruited parents and their 16-year-old children (n = 469) with learner's permits and randomized them from August 2000 to March 2003. Intervention families received persuasive newsletters related to high-risk teenage driving and a parent-teenager driving agreement; comparison families received standard information on driver safety. We conducted interviews when the adolescents obtained a learner's permit, upon licensure, and at 3, 6, and 12 months postlicensure.
Results: Intervention parents and teenagers reported stricter limits on teen driving compared with the comparison group at 12 months, with direct effects through 3 months and indirect effects through 12 months postlicensure.
Conclusions: A simple behavioral intervention was efficacious in increasing parental restriction of high-risk teen driving conditions among newly licensed drivers.