It's the third week in October, so it's National Teen Driver Safety Week, a time when we are expected to communicate with teens about safety on the road. Ideally, parents should discuss driver safety every day with their teens. Hopefully, they'll even listen.

As a parent, I can assure you that whoever invented some of the verbiage associated with this safety week did not have any children. Phrases like "young drivers can learn from the wisdom” and "sharing their challenges with a trusted adult" don't fit with the reality of door-slamming belligerent teens. They're usually in and out the door so fast, you're lucky to squeeze in a hello.

At any rate, the point is for all of us to join hands in focusing attention on the facts: Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among teens in the U.S. The fatality rate for drivers 16 to 19 is about four times that of older drivers. In 2005, we lost 7,500 U.S. teens to fatal car crashes. Many of those occurred in the fall, when school had begun and teen drivers were faced with a great deal of pressure and many distractions.

Teenagers love to drive. It's a rite of passage, a showing of maturity. Many of them drive to school or to run errands, and more than half say that they like to drive with no destination in mind.

I asked several teens why they prefer to drive without a passenger; they explained that another teen might "want them to drive differently"--faster or in a reckless way. This is good news, because it means they are safety conscious. So is the fact that they all named their parents' attitude toward driving as the biggest influence on the way they themselves choose to drive.

There are a few rules that teen should be reminded of regularly:

Don’t drive without a seat belt. Studies show that teens are the age group least likely to buckle up.

Do not speed. The driver was speeding in 38 percent of fatal crashes involving teenaged male drivers in 2005.

Don’t drive tired. Teens are less likely than adults to drive while under the influence, but they are more likely to drive drowsy--a state that is at least as dangerous. Most drowsy-driving crashes are caused by drivers under the age of 25.

But more important than spouting a bunch of rules is the fact that kids need more time behind the wheel in order to learn the nuances of driving. It isn’t the driver education system that is failing; things like how the car handles in different kinds of weather and how to avoid hazards can’t be taught in a classroom. Parents have washed their hands of the training, assuming that the schools will take care of it. They expect teens to go from being passive passengers to instant experienced drivers—or maybe they just don’t have time to teach them. But the best training comes from being accompanied by a trusted adult, not a cell phone or a carload of friends. This week, take a licensed teen out for a test drive.

Be careful out there!