The purpose of the investigation was to determine if parent-teen discordance for parent-imposed restrictions on driving conditions,
driving rules, and the consequences for driving rule violations were related to risky teen driving. A total of 579 parents
and their newly licensed teens were interviewed by telephone, 1 month after teens obtained provisional licenses. In multiple
regression analyses, the degree of disagreement with parent restrictions on driving conditions and parent-imposed consequences
for driving rule violations were negatively associated with a composite measure of teen risky driving. Female parents were
negatively associated and male teens were positively associated with risky driving, but discordance with restricted driving
conditions was the most important predictor. Discordance may reflect poor parent–teen relations or inadequate communication
about parental expectations. The findings suggest that increasing parent–teen concordance on parent-imposed driving restrictions
may help reduce risky teen driving.
KEY WORDS: adolescent driving - parenting - driving restrictions or limits - concordance