Where is your teen driver?

He hits the gas on his sports car before quickly backing off as he reaches the speed limit on the street, aware his parents are watching.
 

The parents aren't actually in the car with the 16-year-old but several miles away at home, where a laptop displays the car's location on a map of the city and how fast the car is going.

The high school sophomore can forget about speeding or lying about his whereabouts. A small device mounted behind the dash of his car relays signals to a satellite, which in turn updates his position on his parents' home computer.

"I hate it," the teen said.

More parents are turning to global positioning systems in an effort to help make their children better and more responsible drivers.

Getting a driver's license and a car traditionally has been a teen's first true taste of freedom. But it's hard to get lost when, with a click of a mouse, Mom and Dad can locate you.

The teen's parent's stressed their decision to install the tracking device was not punitive. They described their son as a terrific kid with a B average.

The teen said getting your first car "is like the next step in trusting your kid, having them drive off on their own. If they mess up, then you can put it (a tracking device) on. But I haven't done anything."

He did, however, tell his mom that he has a burning need for speed, a laudable display of honesty that has come back to bite him. The teen begrudgingly admits that if the tracking device weren't there, he'd probably go fast or take other risks with his car.

"Unfortunately, most teenagers don't have the maturity that comes with instant freedom," says  a retired Sonoma County sheriff's lieutenant who has witnessed first-hand the tragedy that can result when teens make mistakes behind the wheel.

Those risks are borne out by sobering statistics.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 13- to 19-year-olds in one California county. Seventeen teens were killed in 11 car crashes in Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties in 2005, nearly matching the number killed in the previous three years combined.

Nationally, 5,288 teenagers died in motor vehicle crashes in 2005, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

New drivers are at greatest risk for injury and death. Graduated licensing programs and safety education courses have helped put a dent in the carnage, and GPS technology also might help, although there is no data to support that, says a spokesman for the insurance institute.

It is difficult to change attitudes and behaviors of teens, so a monitoring device might make sense, the spokesman adds.

"Their behavior might be different if they know Mom or Dad can find out how they drove, where they went and how they were behaving," he said.

Firm numbers for how many parents are turning to GPS are unavailable as the practice is still new. But manufacturers of the technology and the CHP report an increasing number of people using it.

Jack Richardson, owner of Corporate Support Services in Cibolo, Texas., said parents seeking to monitor their teens' driving make up about 20 percent of our business.

"I think it's a checks and balance system," he said of the technology. "It's just a reminder to stay in line and do what you're supposed to do."

The teen said his friends think the technology "sucks."

"I'm the only one probably in the school that has it," he said. "It's ridiculous."

But he is abiding by the rules. His parents will take his keys if he gets a speeding ticket but haven't decided what will happen if he exceeds the limits.

"I'd have to weigh that out," his mom said. "I don't think it's going to be an issue at all. He's not that way."

Richardson said it's not just safe driving that parents are after. You can purchase a device after a car being driven by one of a parents' children runs off a road and isn't found for a week. By then it is too late.

Richardson said his product differs from OnStar or LoJack in that it allows users to do their own tracking in real time. He said several major insurance companies offer discounts for the technology.

Rude said he called a number of electronics and auto stores in Sonoma County but none carried the service. He went online to buy the top-of-the-line GPS tracker from the Colorado company for $425 and installed the device in his stepson's car.

Our monthly plan allows for up unlimited updates, or pings, for $17.95. We offer discounts for a one-year contract.

The device will be disabled or removed once the teen moves out of the house.

"This is helping me want to move out," he said.