Drive Safe Guide for New Teen Drivers — A Little Guide From Mom, Dad, or Mom & Dad

Hand them the keys — and this.

A 23-page booklet for your new driver — written by a personal injury lawyer, and first made for his own daughter.

This guide started at home.

Before my daughter turned 16, we went car shopping together, and I bought her a car. Somewhere between the test drives and the paperwork, it hit me: soon she'd be driving it alone, and there were things I needed her to hear — really hear — before that day came. So I started writing them down: everything I've learned from more than 20 years as a personal injury lawyer, and everything a dad wants to say at the exact moment he hands over the keys. I wanted it to be more than a lecture — something she'd actually keep, and maybe even remember.

When she turned 16 and became a new driver, I gave her the finished booklet. That booklet became the Drive Safe Guide. And I figured if it mattered for my daughter, it might matter for yours.

The Drive Safe Guide is a short, warm booklet written directly to your son or daughter: the #1 rule (call us, always — no questions, no lecture), phones and distraction, drugs & alcohol with zero exceptions, passengers, breakdowns and accidents, and an emergency quick-reference to keep handy. It closes with a personal note from you.

Choose your version at checkout: From Mom & Dad, From Mom, or From Dad — for a Son or a Daughter. Download instantly, read it together, print it, or send it to their phone.

About the author: Jay Vaughn is a Louisville personal injury lawyer who has spent more than two decades representing people injured in car and truck crashes — and families who have lost someone. He is Board Certified in Truck Accident Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (one of the first in the country), a past Chair of the American Association for Justice's Distracted Driving Litigation Group, and a past President of the Kentucky Justice Association. He has been named to Kentucky Super Lawyers every year since 2013. He wrote this guide so parents could hand their teen the conversation he wishes every family had before the crash, not after.

Honest note on how it was made: About 90% of the tips are Jay's and his contributors' own (including a former law enforcement officer). An AI tool helped organize Jay's original list into booklet form and suggested a small number of additional tips.

Educational information only — not legal or professional driving advice. Driving laws vary by state.