This flies in the face of conventional wisdom, as many parents of teenagers realize. In fact, it doesn’t seem to be far from what parents of my generation believed even though as a teenager I saw an abundance of “good kids” getting drunk every day after school.

The survey was conducted in conjunction with PowerTalk 21 Day, April 21, during which MADD urges parents to talk to their kids about alcohol. For many parents that is uncomfortable conversation, second only to the talk about sex education. They want to believe their children will always tell them the truth and are reticent to push the issue too hard for fear of alienating their child.

But statistics show that most, if not quite all, teenagers at least experiment with drugs or alcohol, with most starting when they are just 12 years old. For parents this presents a challenge which is not only difficult to overcome, but one which holds their child’s life in the sway. There is no way as a parent to know exactly what your teenager is doing at every minute, and efforts to over-control your teenager are doomed to failure before you start. Knowing the risks are high and the dangers if they do start drinking, especially if they have a license to drive and a car, are what is spurring many parents to sit down and have the talk they have been dreading.

Remember, vehicle fatalities remain the number one killer of American teenagers.

In Texas, MADD is trying to get parents to start talking before it’s too late.

According to the Texas DOT, a recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study showed that 54 percent of motorists said their driving was no different when talking on the phone. In 2011, more than 81,000 crashes on Texas roadways involved some sort of distracted driving, and 361 of these proved fatal.
These numbers show that 25 percent of all crashes in Texas are caused by distracted driving.

Most people think of distracted driving as something which causes them to simply take their eyes off the road. While it is true that taking your eyes off the road while driving for even a moment is enough to result in calamity, taking your BRAIN off the road is just as bad. That’s what happens when you try to use your phone or other handheld device while driving. You look away, yes, but you also lose mental focus on what you are doing which is even worse.

Texas officials have been using a series of public service announcements to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving, and convince drivers that what they are doing behind the wheel requires their full and complete attention. There simply is no reason to be doing anything but focusing on your driving every time you get behind the wheel.

Remember, it’s not just about defensive driving, it’s about staying alive. Be smart and take the Texas DOT advice to heart: Distracted driving kills. period.

Distracted driving might be getting a lot of attention lately, especially after the National Transportation Safety Board said it was more dangerous than driving under the influence, but drinking and driving didn’t suddenly become less dangerous. In fact, it’s just as dangerous as it ever was which is why defensive drivers know better.

Unfortunately, not everyone who gets behind the wheel of an automobile is a defensive driver. Some are just plain stupid. Which is why Texas Department of Transportation is helping to spread the word about the dangers of driving under the influence. A new mobile virtual reality program which simulates the experience of driving under the influence of alcohol has been setting up shop around the state, especially at schools and colleges where young, more inexperienced drivers, have an opportunity to climb inside and strap on the special goggles.

Called ‘Watch UR BAC’, the Texas DOT is making the program available for free to community organizations, schools and anyone else interested in helping others learn about the dangers of driving under the influence. The fact is when you’re drunk your reflexes slow, your reactions time is delayed and your brain just doesn’t work as well as it does when you aren’t sober.

With Spring Break just around the corner Texas authorities are trying to increase the awareness of driving drunk in the hopes that at least some students will take their warnings to heart and not get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol.

If you get pulled over for Driving Under the Influence in Texas you face a mandatory 72 hours in jail (or as much as six days) and up to $2,000 in fines for your first offense. You may also get your driver’s license suspended for up to a full year and be required to attend a court ordered traffic school.

The best idea when it comes to drinking and driving is just not to do it.

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The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles makes it very clear what you need to do to registers your vehicle in their state if you make a move there. The steps are easy enough if your vehicle is in good working order, and there is no reason to try ad put it off. It’s only a matter of time until a cop sees you have the wrong plates and decides to stop you.

For everyone who moves to Texas they have 30 days to get their vehicle registered or risk a citation. The first step is to get your vehicle inspected. There are an abundance of qualified vehicle inspection sites. You can make an appointment or just show up and take your chances on the wait. They will perform an inspection of your vehicle, checking the lights, horn and emissions; and the general quality of your vehicle. If your vehicle passes inspection you will be given a vehicle inspection sticker you can display in your windshield so everybody (especially law enforcement) know your vehicle is permitted to at least be on the roads in Texas.

Once your vehicle has passed inspection it will be time to visit your county tax office with all of the following:

* inspection certification,
* proof of liability insurance,
* the vehicle’s odometer reading if it is less than 10 years old,
* ownership document, which may be:
an original out-of-state title,
proof of registration (for non-title state),
current foreign/military ownership document, or
foreign evidence of ownership
* completed Form 130-U (if applying for registration only, without a Texas title, please attach a completed Form VTR-272), and

* and of course, the following fees:
registration fee,
title application fee of $28 or $33, depending on the county, and
new resident tax of $90 or proof of sales tax payment

It is possible there will be more fees you have to pay once you show up, so be certain you bring your check book!

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• For information on Titling and Registering a Car in Florida, click: Titling and Registering a Car in Florida

• Find out everything You Need to Know About AZ Emissions Testing in our comprehensive guide to ensure compliance and understanding of Arizona’s emission regulations.

That’s right, once again Texas ranks near the top of the list when it comes to the amount paid for auto insurance. According to a new report by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Texas finished 11th of all 50 states when it comes to insurance premiums. This is good news for insurers and bad news for drivers.

Part of the reason for the higher insurance rates in Texas as compared to some other states is the number of heavily populated urban districts. Insurance rates are determined by the amount paid out by insurance companies in claims. If claims are high then premiums need to be higher so the insurance company is not paying out more than it is taking in. This is simple math. The densely populated urban areas in Texas lead to higher traffic congestion and a larger than average number of vehicle crashes, resulting in insurance companies paying out money.

However, forewarned is forearmed. That means, in order for Texans to see lower insurance rates all they need to do is start driving a little more defensively. By decreasing the number of vehicle crashes in their state, Texans can have a direct impact on the insurance premiums they pay. In this way they control their own destiny. Anyone who knows they need a little extra help when it comes to driving, or knows someone else who does, might want to consider a quick and easy defensive driving course. Because the better drivers all Texans can be, the quicker insurance rates may start to decline.

As cars get more technologically advanced, they get more expensive and the cost of repairing them also goes up, all of which leads to higher insurance rates.

You can’t do much about the price of gas, but you can do something about your insurance premiums; Drive safe.

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According to a new report by the Texas Department of Transportation fewer Texans than ever before are getting behind the wheel after downing a few beers.
That’s right, drinking and driving is on the decline in Texas and the Texas Department of Transportation is taking advantage of this decline to build more momentum toward even further declines.

To this end the TxDOT is pulling out nearly all the stops in its latest holiday PR campaign blitz. They are using a mix of traditional marketing techniques, social media marketing and some decidedly gorilla marketing efforts to get their message across to drivers around state.

After distracted driving, drinking and driving is the most dangerous mix on the roads today. Drivers who consume just a few beers, or a few glasses of wine or a few shots are in danger of suffering delayed reaction time, impaired judgement or a decrease in dexterity. It’s also enough to put them over the limit when it comes to blood alcohol content which will earn them a citation, possible jail time and a suspended license.

Even a defensive driving course can’t help you if you’ve died in a horrible car crash because you were driving drunk.
There simply is no excuse for drinking and driving. Getting behind the wheel of a 4,000 pound metal missile after you’ve had a few drinks is tantamount to putting a bullet into a revolve, giving the chamber a spin, pointing the gun at your grandmom and pulling the trigger. Nobody wants to take a chance like that.
Last year there were 3,024 fatalities on Texas roads and highways. Of there, there were more than 1,100 alcohol related crashes, making alcohol a factor in more than 35% of the traffic fatalities in the state.

This holiday season TxDOT is sending a clear message, delivered by one of Santa’s reindeer: “Don’t drive if you’re tipsy, buzzed or Blitzen. Call a cab or get a sober ride home.”

Defensive driving sounds like good advice to me. Follow it.

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Not much compares to the sinking feeling you get when the red and blue lights flash in your rear view mirror and you know you’ve been speeding. You try be polite, and bite your tongue, and don’t say or do anything that will make the experience any worse than it has to be. But you know you’re going to get a ticket, and that’s just a bummer.

Texas law enforcement is trying to change all that by pulling over safe drivers and handing them a gift card for those who practice good defensive driving whether they learned their skills in a defensive driving course or on their own through trial and error (though the former is easier.)

That’s right–instead of just handing out speeding tickets, the cops in Texas are handing out presents to drivers they catch who are doing the right things behind the wheel. Instead of setting up speed-traps the Texas police have been setting up “safety observation zones” where they can observe drivers who are taking the right precautions. It might be a school zone, where busy mom’s and dad’s often forget to securely buckle up a child before speeding away. Or it might be a busy intersection where drivers often get distracted and speed through caution lights or yield signs.

In Texas right now, anyplace where there is an opportunity to catch a driver doing something right, there is likely a police officer waiting to reward them for it. All the drivers need to do is drive defensively; be safe behind the wheel and set a good example for others to follow, and they have a chance at being rewarded.
With a program like this in place maybe the sight of red and blue lights in your rear view mirror won’t make you cringe in terror, but cross your fingers that you’ll be rewarded for being an excellent defensive driver.

Just days after a recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board that all states pass a comprehensive cell-phone texting ban for drivers, some Texas lawmakers say it is not likely to be enacted in Texas.

Anyone who is defensive driving in Texas doesn’t need a ban to know distracted driving is unsafe.
According to a recent story in the Houston Chronicle the odds of such a bill passing the Texas legislature are slim, if not completely non-existent. Just this past summer Texas governor Rick Perry vetoed a bill which would have imposed restrictions on texting while driving. Perry has made it clear these restrictions should be enacted only at the local level, and not be subject to statewide or nationwide bans.
The Texas Department of Transportation recently reported that cellphone use was a factor in more than 3,400 accidents last year, with more than 40 fatalities reported as a result. That is a near five percent increase since their last report in 2006.
Despite lawmakers resistance to a statewide ban on texting and driving, or any type of distracted driving, defensive drivers understand the risk. This means drivers are bearing the brunt of responsibility for their actions behind the wheel in Texas. It is not a license to continue to operate your vehicle in an unsafe manner in Texas. In fact, several major Texas cities have already taken steps to curb cell phone and texting use by drivers. It’s just a statewide ban which seems unlikely in Texas.
Texas citizens take pride in the fact they “Remember the Alamo”, hopefully they can also remember to hang up the phone. If you still have your doubts, consider a defensive driving course.

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