Research shows that when parents take an active role in their teens' driving education and set certain guidelines, their teens' chances of being in a crash can be reduced by up to one-third. In response to the recent teen crashes in Montgomery County, Chrysler Group's Road Ready Teens program offers safety tips for parents. The following tips are based on research and advocated by the nation's top safety organizations:

1. You hold the keys -- parents can and should set the rules.

2. Require your teen and all passengers to always buckle up.

3. Limit the number of passengers with whom your teen drives.

4. Spend supervised practice time with your teen.

5. Restrict cell phone use and other distractions while the vehicle is in motion.

6. Give teens greater driving privileges gradually, as they gainexperience.

7. Know the laws -- make sure you know your state's laws for young drivers. Restrictions could include nighttime driving limits and passenger restrictions.

While Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia all have laws to help protect teens behind the wheel, none have enacted all of the recommendations advocated by the nation's top safety organizations that are the basis of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws.

Road Ready Teens(/a) is a research-based program to help parents safely ease their teens into driving while gradually exposing them to and educating them about the risks they face on the road. The program includes Get Road Ready: A Parent's Guide to Safely Ease Teens into Driving, and an online driving video game, Road Ready StreetWise, that increases teens' awareness and understanding of driving risks.

Road Ready Teens is sponsored by Chrysler Group along with its program partners: the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), American Automobile Association (AAA), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the National Safety Council (NSC), HP, and WildTangent.