Teenagers are the most dangerous drivers on the road. Teaching them to drive carefully is very important in helping them become safe drivers. Cellphones and friends can very often lead to accidents, but there are other factors (因素) affecting teenage drivers, like lack of (缺少) sleep, drunk driving and not wearing seat belts (安全带). Parents can set rules to help children stay safe on the road.

★ Encourage teenagers to avoid speeding. It is the most important rule to educate them. Driving too fast is very common among teenagers and is perhaps the easiest way to break traffic laws. Teenagers should be required to avoid speeding and not to ride in a car with anyone else who speeds.

★ Ask teenagers to always wear a seat belt. Whether a teenager is driving or not, he or she needs to be asked to always wear a seat belt. If the teenager is old enough to have passengers, ask passengers to wear seat belts, too.

★ Always set limits (限制) on the number of passengers. You and your teenager must agree on a set number of teenagers as passengers, but the number of passengers should not be larger than the number of seat belts in the car.

★ Set a fixed time for your teenager to be home. There should be a clear time when the teenager needs to be home. Then they will be more careful when they are in the car.

In the past twenty years, riding bicycles has become more and more popular among people of all ages. Bicycles have long played an important part in the lives of American young people. But today an even greater number of adults cycle along roadsides and bicycle paths. These new riders are often trying to become fit or lose weight. They have found that bicycling is a pleasant way to stay healthy.

This is certainly good for health. But it has also brought some problems. With all these added people on the road, bicycle safety has become a matter of real importance.

Bicycle safety is mostly a matter of common sense. People should ride only on bicycle paths where they will not be badly hurt. There are also a number of rules that riders should follow, especially when riding on streets or highways. Bicyclists should never ride against the traffic, nor should they carry other people on their bicycles. They are also supposed to ride in single line on busy streets and to walk bicycles across the busy intersections (交叉路口). By following these rules, bicycle riders will not only stay healthy but also be safe.

In one recent year, the National Safety Council reported that 34 thousand bicycle riders were hurt in highway accidents. In that same year, another six hundred riders were killed. Since the introduction of crash helmets (头盔) in 1980, the number of injuries (伤者) and deaths from bicycling accidents has gone down. Today, more and more riders realize the dangers of bicycling. They are wearing helmets and paying closer attention to cycling rules.