Teen Driving

Unfortunately, many young people have been involved in collisions in the Cayman Islands – some of them fatal, and this area of the site is designed to give new drivers tips and advice to drivers stay safe on the roads.

• Always drive on the left hand side of the road.
• Always wear your seat belt and make sure all your passengers are buckled up.
• Obey the speed limits, going too fast gives you less time to stop or react. Excess speed is one of the main causes of crashes.
• Don't drink and drive, and don't ride with anyone who has been drinking. Call parents, friends or a taxi to take you home if you need a ride.
• Don't take drugs or drive if you've taken any. Don't ride with anyone who has been using drugs. Even some over-the-counter drugs can make you drowsy. Check labels for warnings.
• Never try to fit more people in the car than you have seatbelts.
• Don't run red lights.
• Watch out for aggressive drivers and try to stay out of their way. They are the cause of a lot of crashes.
• Don't drive like you own the road; drive like you own the car.
• Adjust your car's headrest to a height behind your head--not your neck--to minimize whiplash in case you're in an crash.
• Use turn signals to indicate your intention to turn or to change lanes. Turn it on to give the cars behind you enough time to react before you take action. Also, make sure the signal turns off after you've completed the action.
• When light turns green, make sure the intersection is clear before you go.
• Make sure your windshield is clean. At sunrise and sunset, light reflecting off your dirty windshield can momentarily blind you from seeing what's going on.
• Make sure your car has gas. Don't ride around with the gauge on empty--who knows where you might get stranded.
• Don't make assumptions about what other drivers are going to do. The only thing you can assume about another driver with a turn signal on is that he has a turn signal on. He might not be turning at all and forgot to turn it off the last time he used it or has changed his mind.
• When there's an obstruction in your lane, wait for oncoming traffic to clear before you pull around. Just because someone's blocking your lane doesn't mean you have the right of way in the next or oncoming lane.
• If you get an insect like a fly or a lizard in your car, don't try to deal with it while you're driving! This is will take your attention off the road and you could crash. Instead, pull over and park as soon as possible and get the bug out of the car.
• Don't distract your attention from the road to change CD, take a phone call or write a text message. Pull over to a safe place to carry out these actions.

Last Updated: 2011-02-01