If  you have an  Apple iPhone, please add your emergency contact details and any allergies to the “Medical ID” section of the built-in Health app. 

It means emergency services can access your next of kin, blood type and allergies even if your phone is locked. 

It's free, takes less than a minute and could save your life!

Your teenager is learning to drive, and you have had a sleepless night. You are now sitting bolt upright beside them as they inch their way along the road. Your teeth are clenched, and your white-knuckled hand is gripping hard on the door handle — as if that could make any difference — while your foot keeps involuntarily pressing down on an imaginary brake. Sound familiar!

Learning to drive can indeed be as nerve-racking for the parents as it is for the learner, if not more so. However, you have to bear in mind that if you are that nervous during a driving lesson, your nervousness is likely to communicate itself to your child, who will become even more nervous as a result, and probably make more mistakes — which creates a vicious circle. If you want your kids to end up as safe and confident drivers, they need to enjoy the learning process and find it fun. For this reason, it is probably a better idea to enlist the help of driving school professionals to prepare your teenagers for the brave new world of roads and traffic.

ACT and NSW learner drivers are invited to take advantage of the new keys2drive national learner driver safety program and receive a free lesson with a keys2drive accredited driving instructor.

Over the next 12 – 18 months, across Australia, keys2drive will deliver 200,000 free lessons funded by the Federal Government

The free lesson uses a ‘train the trainer’ model with the accredited driving instructor assisting the supervisor/parent to guide the learner driver to adopt safe driving practices. It does this through face to face practical information and instruction on how they can most effectively assist in the training of their learner drivers.

For most teenagers, learning to drive is practically a rite of passage when they reach the legal driving age, although most parents understandably don’t always see it that way. Teenagers associate driving and owning a car with greater freedom and independence and generally seeing themselves as more grown up and mature.

Car crashes are the leading cause of deaths among teenagers in Australia, and car insurance rates for these newly qualified drivers are also high, because of the high risk factor assessed by insurance companies.

Although many 16 year olds will beg their parents for driving lessons, not all teenagers of course, are ready to learn to drive. Many young drivers have no idea how difficult it can be to learn, how many hours of lessons they will need and the focus and concentration that they will need to maintain.