BURNSVILLE, MN (October 12, 2016) – Parents don’t prepare their teens to drive as well as they did a decade ago. According to a AAA survey of 142 driving instructors across America, 65% said the decline in quality parental involvement has added to the challenges facing young drivers. They also reported that parents often set a bad example through their own behaviors.

“With all the other challenges teens face learning to drive, it is critical for parents to re-engage in the process,” said Amy Stracke, Managing Director of Traffic Safety Advocacy for AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Teens can’t succeed safely on the road unless those closest to them make proper training a priority and set a good example behind the wheel.”

In the survey, Skills of Novice Teen Drivers, driving instructors also revealed the top three mistakes teens make when learning to drive:

Speeding – Traveling over posted speed limits or too fast for road conditions.

Distraction – Interacting with a cell phone, talking with passengers or looking at other objects in the vehicle.

Poor Visual Scanning – Driving with tunnel vision and not properly scanning the road for risks or hazards.

Past research shows that teens with parents who impose stricter driving limits reported fewer crashes and traffic violations. AAA recommends parents stay actively involved in coaching their teens through the learning-to-drive process by:

• Having conversations early and often about the dangers of speeding and distraction
• Taking the time to practice driving with their teens in varying conditions
• Adopting a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement that takes the learning to drive process in stages and sets family rules for the road
• Setting a good example by minimizing distractions and speeding when driving

AAA also recommends that teens preparing for the responsibility of driving should enroll in a driver education program that teaches how to avoid driver distraction and other safety skills. Resources to help parents choose a class and coach their teen through the learning-to drive process can be found on AAA’s award-winning website TeenDriving.AAA.com.

(Press Release)

Urbandale police arrested a teenager and charged him with assault after a report he was chasing two people while wearing a clown mask. Police received the report around 12:30 p-m of a man possibly armed with a machete chasing two people on the northwest side of the Des Moines suburb. Officers talked to witnesses who identified the man and they found a metal baseball bat and a clown mask.

They charged 18-year-old Jacob Steil of West Des Moines with two counts of assault with a weapon. He was taken to the Polk County jail. Urbandale police did not report any injuries.

(Radio Iowa)

Officers with the Creston Police Department Tuesday afternoon arrested on a man wanted on warrants for assault, sexual battery and rape. 37-year old Larry Jordan, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County Warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault – Impeding Air/Blood Flow causing Bodily Injury.  Jordan was being held in the Union County Jail on a $5000 bond, and was also being held on a felony warrant out of Tennessee, for 1 count of Aggravated Sexual Battery and 1 count of Rape. Jordan was being held without bond on those warrants, while awaiting extradition to TN.

Late Tuesday night, Creston Police arrested 24-year old Kevin Lee Davis, of Creston, for Driving While Suspended, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Davis was being held in the Union County Jail on a $1000 bond.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A former cellphone store employee in Council Bluffs has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $30,000 while on the job. The Daily Nonpareil reports that 21-year-old Sayeg Moreno Padilla, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced Monday to five years of probation and ordered to pay back what he stole.

Prosecutors say Moreno Padilla opened fraudulent accounts using 44 cellphones and took $1,500 in gift cards between May 6 and June 16 last year.