Have a teenage driver in your household? If so, make this the year you get your son or daughter excited about what has always been a dreaded event — the family road trip. Offer him or her the opportunity to practice driving during the trip.

Driving is an activity everyone improves at with practice. This is especially true during the teenage years when young drivers are not only learning the rules of the road, but how to execute them. A lot of time spent on the open road, switching lanes and learning how to merge, then getting off the highway and getting in and out of the parking lot at a rest stop can only help.

But before handing over the keys, make a point of educating both yourself and your son or daughter on some of the finer points of teen driving safety.

You may want to start by sharing these statistics:

* Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among American teenagers, killing between 5,000 and 6,000 young people every year for the past decade, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

* The most common causes of fatal accidents involving teens include excessive speed and other driver errors, such as running off the road, driving in the wrong lane, driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or medication and erratic or reckless driving.

Once you have your teenager’s attention, set a few ground rules for the trip. Perhaps get him or her to sign a parent-teen driving contract where both you and the child pledge to follow safe driving practices, such as always going the speed limit, promising to always wear a seatbelt, to turn off the cell phone and to eliminate other distractions when driving. A sample contract can be found on the Allstate.com website.

Prior to the trip would also be a good time to educate your son or daughter on what they need to know about car insurance. Perhaps as a condition of getting their learner’s permit you required your child to pay a portion of your auto insurance bill. If not, now may be a good time for some education on how much it costs, and what can be done to bring the bill down.

Placing a teen driver on your policy can make premiums go up between 50 and 200 percent, according to an article on MSNBC.com, but many companies offer discounts for teens willing to practice safe driving techniques. Be sure to ask about the available discounts when requesting free car insurance quotes online.