When your teenage son or daughter first learns to drive, it is an exciting time for them, but not so for us as the parents. Typically most parents find this period particularly stressful due to the increased risk their children face when they start to drive.

A GPS tracking device fitted to a teenager's vehicle can help reduce the risks they face in a number of ways:

1. Safety - A parent's biggest fear when their children start to drive is that their child will drive recklessly and put themselves at risk. A young driver is far more likely to take risks on the roads than an experienced driver, and monitoring & logging speed is just one feature of these GPS devices. Statistically teenagers are far more likely to be involved in car accidents than any other sector of the population, due to their lack of driving experience and their lack of awareness of the risks involved with driving a car. When a GPS tracking device is in place, teenagers are far more likely to stick to the speed limits.

2. Cheaper Insurance - One important side-effect of keeping your teenager safer on the road is cheaper car insurance. If they drive safer they are more likely to keep a clean license, avoid accidents and benefit from reduced insurance rates.

3. Addressing Safety - Armed with the data from the GPS readout, a parent can decide what corrective measures to take, or even make the decision to withdraw driving privileges - it won't make you a popular parent, but it might save your teenager from injuring themselves or their friends.

4. Knowing Where They Are - If your teenager has a breakdown or an accident, you can be notified immediately via the GPS system so that you can get assistance to them as soon as possible.

Most parents install GPS vehicle tracking systems in their teenager's auto to make sure that their child is abiding by the rules of how they are supposed to drive, where they can and cannot go, and when they can and cannot drive. If you don't want your teenager to drive on the highway for instance, or they tell you they are going to a certain friend's house to study, the vehicles location will be logged and it is possible to check.

It might seem to some people that going to these lengths constitute a violation of an individual's freedom, and to a large extent it does, but the fear about personal safety outweighs these fears for many parents. Certain manufacturers of GPS tracking systems promote fitting the devices covertly, due to the ease of installation and how easy they are to conceal, but just because you have this option, doesn't make it the right thing to do.