Any parent of teen drivers a little stressed at the thought of being the parent of a teen driver?
*I was given a 2017 Buick Lacrosse equipped with Teen Driver technology to experience for a week. I have not been paid to share my story.
My oldest is 18, so he’s been driving on his own for a couple of years, but do I still worry?
ABSOLUTELY.
My other teen driver has her learners permit, so I am clearly smack-dab in the middle of probably one of the more stressful seasons of parenting.
As one might expect, I was VERY interested in the opportunity to check-out Buick’s Teen Driver technology.
Let me say first, that ANY new car is impressive to me since my minivan is 10 years old, and has been worked as hard as any mother-of-three will work her minivan. The leather is worn, the exterior has been been dinged and scratched and dinged, the key fob doesn’t work any more, and it jumps a little when I press the accelerator more often than not.
I also want to say… I haven’t been looking at new cars to buy, but I will say if I WAS looking I would say I would be totally happy if we bought this vehicle. I am so ready to walk away from the minivan.
I was able to get my Costco haul into the trunk without a breaking a sweat.
Well, I broke a sweat, but that is because when they fill your box at Costco, they fill it with all the heaviest items.
But before I share about the features I loved that are not all about the Teen Driver technology, I should share about THAT.
When you use the Teen Driver system, the teen driver receives his/her own key fob…
Mom or dad can easily register the key fob while in the car. The teen uses their own key fob when they drive… and the all the bells and whistles of the system take over!
Active safety features are automatically enabled and incapable of being manually disabled when Teen Driver is in use. These features may include:
- Lane Departure Warning
- Lane Keep Assist
- Front and Rear Park Assist
- Side Blind Zone Alert
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- Forward Collision Alert
- Forward Automatic Braking
- Rear Automatic Braking
- Front Pedestrian Braking
- Stability Control
- Traction Control
- Daytime Running Lamps/Automatic Light Control
New for most 2017 models with Teen Driver:
- Maximum speed limiter
- Configurable audio volume limit
- Additional report card information:
- Traction control activations
- Wide-open throttle events
- Tailgating alerts, if equipped
And it keeps a report card for parents to view…
Teen Driver is a non-subscription-based service that remains with the vehicle permanently.
While we have to untie those apron strings… new technology has provided a way for us to let go but almost literally remove the eyes we have on the back of our heads and put them inside the car.
But this vehicle could have be stripped of the Teen Driver technology, and I would still covet it.
I just LOVED THE SWEET RIDE.
It was smooth.
And so very cool.
And had a great sound system.
And an extended sunroof.
AND IT’S NOT A MINIVAN.
I did two Facebook LIVES (because my first one cut out) in the car… You can see more of the gorgeousness of this vehicle in the videos!
and
Pretty sure it brought out the happy in my eyes.
Oh and the adaptive cruise control was WAY better than a bread maker. Basically… you set the cruise control and it automatically keeps a safe distance between you and the car in front of you… automatically braking based on the distance of the car in front of you.
I tested it out pretty hard and my take-away of the feature is… it would have been illegal to take a nap while driving, but I practically could have. I set my cruise control on 40 in an area of town with communter traffic and stop lights. I didn’t touch my accelerator or brake once, despite traffic signals and a red light. The adaptive cruise control did it all.
I kinda felt like Jane Jetson…
