Newest Source of Teen Ire: Webcams in Their Cars

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Latest Parenting Tool: Car Cameras

In an effort to reduce teen car crashes Maryland parents are recording their kids driving. A look at what happens when kids stop driving and start text messaging.

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"I think it's a great program," said Cindy Burch, an epidemiologist at the University of Maryland's National Study Center. She said researchers want to "really sort of tease out what's helping these kids." Many teens admit that as much as they might loathe the camera, it does force them to pay closer attention to their driving.

Jamie Leigh Szewczyk, 16, could not understand why her mom, Nancy, wanted her to install a camera. She was a 4.0 student involved in several extracurricular activities, including dance and volleyball. She was a good driver, and a good kid, too.

"I felt like they couldn't trust me," Szewczyk said. "I'm like, I've done everything, I've been good all these 16 years, and you're going be there watching me when I have this little bit of freedom?"

But after a month of driving, Szewczyk reluctantly admitted she has warmed to the camera. After all, it has made her a better driver, she said.

"I went like a week or something . . . without getting any videos," she said. "I didn't say anything to anyone, but it was kind of like a little moment of excitement."

Carpenter, naturally, has grandiose visions for the future of DriveCam. What if it came down in price, and all insurance companies provided discounts for parents who installed it? What if parents could install it in their cars and prove to their insurance companies that they, too, were good drivers, deserving of a discount?

"I think we're a ways away from that, but that would be a good thing," he said.

Over his daughter's objections, Ken Richardson would also like to see DriveCam expand its reach. A former firefighter and paramedic, he has seen firsthand the consequences of driver inexperience.

"The last thing I want is to get a call in the middle of the night or a knock on the door," he said. "This is one of those issues where I have total control. If you want to drive, you're going to have a camera in your car."