Turning off the road and arriving at your destination can be a relief. Once you’re in a parking lot, you’re traveling more slowly, so the logic follows that your risk of an accident goes down. However, being in a parking lot is no reason to let your guard down. In fact, parking lots have a number of hazards you need to be aware of.

Did you know that 40 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds have been a passenger in a car that was driven by a teen driver using a cellphone in a dangerous way?* This type of distracted driving is not only practiced by almost 25 percent of teen drivers but quadruples the risk of crashing according to www.teendriversource.org. To help shed light on this unfortunate trend, the Department of Transportation has declared April Distracted Driving Awareness Month. To do our part to increase awareness, we’ve rounded up a few of our past blog posts below.

Do Dashboard Restrictions Diminish Distracted Driving?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called for automakers to stop equipping vehicles with entertainment and navigation systems in order to combat distracted driving. Are tougher restrictions and distracted driving laws on the horizon?

Avoid Distracted Driving and Arrive Accident Free

There are many distractions while driving that call for your attention. We explored five of the most common causes for distracted driving and provided suggestions on how to avoid them.

3 Ways Parents Can Reduce Distracted Driving

Some people think that teens are more prone to distracted driving, but it’s really parents who need to be alert of their own driving behaviors. Guest Blogger Kristin Varela of MotherProof.com offers her suggestions for cutting down on bad driving habits.

Disable Your Cell Phone While Driving

If you simply can’t keep your hands off your phone while the car is in motion, there are technologies available to help curb your bad habits. We reviewed a couple of services available that disable your cellphone while your car is in motion. While multi-tasking becomes more and more of a daily routine, finding ways to curb distracted driving is a higher priority. What are some of your tips for tuning out distractions while on the road?

* U.S. Dept. of Transportation

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Just when I think I have this whole parenting thing figured out, the game changes.  With my oldest daughter preparing for middle school, I feel like I have a pretty firm grip on the perils of upper elementary school (limiting makeup to lip gloss only and teaching her how to be responsible with her first cell phone). What I’m not prepared for yet is the reality that marijuana use is at an all-time high among eighth- through 12th-grade kids. Scarier yet, 19 percent of teens admit to having driven after smoking pot, according to a study conducted by SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions). As parents, we seem to have done a fairly thorough job instilling the importance of not driving after drinking alcohol, but we’ve apparently been slacking on relaying the dangers of driving after smoking marijuana (the same study found that, of those who admitted to driving under the influence of pot, 36 percent said it presented no distraction). So, what steps can we take as parents to help ensure our teens’ safety in cars as they experiment and sometimes stumble their way through adolescence?

Draft a driving contract

When your teen starts driving, put a safe driving contract into place. You can draft one from scratch yourself, or download a Parent-Teen Driving Contract template. Your teen can also go a step further and make a public promise. Along with the basics, like when and where your teen is allowed to drive, it should spell out the fact that your teen will never drive while under the influence of anything (or get into a car with someone else in that same state), or even when they're too tired to think coherently.

Put a plan in place

Be sure to let your teen driver know that they can call you at any hour of the day or night for a safe ride home without consequences, and back your word by putting it on paper in the safe driving contract. If they're not comfortable coming to you for this, you can list an alternate contact—a “cool” aunt, for example—who knows to deliver your teen home safely and discreetly.

Give your teen an easy out

To make it easy for your teen to refuse a ride from a pressuring peer who may be under the influence, implement a way out. For some, it could be something as simple as texting a code word to a parent, who then knows to put the parental kibosh on the night. For example, the code word could be "funnn," spelled with 3 Ns: "hving gr8 funnn at Sophie's." Mom then knows to book it over to Sophie's house (or around the corner from Sophie's house) for a pickup. What other plans have you and your family implemented to help keep your teens and their friends from succumbing to the temptation of driving under the influence? Share your ideas with other parents in the comments section below.

Kristin Varela is the senior family editor at Cars.com, a leading destination for online car shoppers.

If you ask most people, they will say they are a good driver -- great driver, in fact. Then, may I ask, who are all these bad drivers on the road? Well, that got us to thinking. Would each of us pass a simple driver’s education test if we were to take it right now? That was the charge of a quiz we posed to readers of the Allstate Blog throughout February. Check out the results below, and ask yourself seriously: Would I have passed? (Note: blue text denotes the correct answer)

 1. When a yellow signal light is shown, you should…

• Prepare to stop if you have not already entered the intersection 98%
• Brake hard to a complete stop 1%
• Continue through the intersection 1%
• Speed up before it turns red 0%

Good to know: Drivers are required to stop at a yellow light unless he or she is too close to the intersection to stop safely. One rule of thumb is that if you are 100 feet or less from the intersection, you have passed the “point of no return” and cannot stop safely before the intersection. Therefore, it is best to continue at your current speed through the intersection, but be cautious as you pass through.

2. Holding your foot over the brake pedal is called…

• Riding the brake 72%
• Covering the brake 26%
• Slipping the brake 1%
• Adjusting the brake 1%

Good to know: Avoid "riding" your brakes.  It's better to slow down with moderate pressure and then releasing the brake to cool, than riding the brakes and overheating them. On steep grades consider downshifting to save your brakes (when traction conditions are good). Keep your wheels and braking system clean. Clean brakes work better and keep temperatures down. Use a good wheel cleaner which you know if safe for your wheel finish.

3. When driving past vehicles parked on the right, you should position your vehicle…

• Be at least one car door's width away 59%
• No less than 8 feet away 30%
• Close enough to prevent a person from opening a door in front of you 7%
• Within an arm's length of the vehicles 4%

Good to know: When passing a parked vehicle you should always try and leave a space of at least the width of an average car door. This is to safeguard against a vehicle unexpectedly pulling out or a car door suddenly opening. Creating this space will also help you see children moving out from between parked cars to cross the road. If such space can't be created and you are forced to pass closer to the parked vehicles then reduce your speed and be ready to stop. When passing a series of parked cars, you should maintain a straight path. Don't weave in and out of them. Maintaining a straight path will allow other road users to clearly see your intentions.

4. Roadways are the most slippery…

• The first rain after a dry spell 79%
• After it has been raining for a while 11%
• None of the above 5%
• During a heavy downpour 5%

Good to know: Slow down at the first sign of rain, especially after a dry spell. This is when many roads are the most slippery, because oil and dust have not washed away. A slippery road will not give your tires the grip they need. Drive more slowly than you would on a dry road.

5. At what speed can hydroplaning occur?

• 10 miles per hour 38%
• 30 miles per hour 28%
• 20 miles per hour 20%
• 40 miles per hour 14%

Good to know: In heavy or persistent rain, as the rain pools on the surface of the road hydroplaning can become a serious risk. Hydroplaning is when the tires skid on the top of the pooled water and lose contact with the road, resulting in a loss of traction. You can tell this is happening if, when driving in a wet environment, your steering suddenly appears to be very light. The way out of a hydroplane is to gently release the accelerator, slowing your car and allowing the tires to regain contact with the road surface.

Sources: www.dmvflorida.org, www.driversedguru.com; www.autoeducation.com; www.driving-test-success.com; www.dmv.ca.gov

How Do You Measure Up?

• 64% of drivers rate themselves as very good or excellent.
• 89% say they have driven faster than the posted speed limit
• 40% say they’ve driven more than 20 miles per hour over the speed limit.
• 45% say they’ve driven while they’ve been excessively tired.
• More than one-third say they’ve sent a text message while driving.
• 53% have had a moving violation.
• 7 in 10 people surveyed say that due to distracted driving, they have slammed on their brakes or swerved to avoid an accident

The survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted for Allstate July 13, 14, 16 and 17 via landline and cell phone and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent. Of the 1,000 adults, the survey identified 848 drivers who hold a license and drive at least occasionally. The survey was conducted by Financial Dynamics (FD) for Allstate. Even good drivers can get into accidents -- make sure you're prepared. Visit Allstate.com or more information on safe driving and proper insurance coverage. Connect with me on Google+ or follow me on Twitter

Is your in-car entertainment system leading to distracted driving? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) thinks so. Just last month, NHTSA called on automakers to stop equipping automobiles with entertainment and navigation systems. Are tougher restrictions or distracted driving laws the answer? Thanks to the proliferation of in-car entertainment and navigation systems, coupled with cellphone use while driving, distracted driving is a leading cause of motor vehicle accidents. According to Distraction.gov, in-car entertainment and navigation systems take the hands, eyes and mind off the road. For example, entering directions on a navigation system or viewing a text can take a driver’s eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds. At 55 mph, that’s like driving an entire football field blindfolded.

With increased functionality built into dashboards, even a simple action like changing the radio or turning up the volume can be a distraction.

If you don’t text or talk on the phone while driving, it’s easy to forget that in-car entertainment and navigation system use is also a serious distraction. Not only are your eyes off the road, but your mind is off the road, too. Driving distractions statistics from NHTSA clearly show just how serious visual and cognitive distractions can be:

• In 2009, 5,747 people were killed due to driver distraction
• In 2009, 448,000 people were injured due to driver distraction
• One out of every five accidents is due to distracted driving

With increased functionality built into dashboards, even a simple action like changing the radio or turning up the volume can be a distraction. And while voice commands help, they may not be very reliable. It’s unclear how many drivers actually utilize voice commands or even Bluetooth calling systems from the car. So in the interest of safety, should the government restrict car manufacturers from adding distracting entertainment and navigation devices to cars? The Department of Transportation recently issued broad guidelines calling for automakers to limit the inclusion of technology that causes drivers to take their eyes off the road or hands off the wheel for more than two seconds. However, these guidelines are just that—suggestions—and no penalties will be levied against automakers that fail to comply. While distracted driving laws exist to curb cellphone use and texting, there are no such laws restricting in-car entertainment and navigation systems.

Some experts feel bringing Apple’s voice control system Siri to the car as part of a comprehensive entertainment and navigation system may help reduce distracted driving.

Both automakers and the NHTSA stress that hands-free voice commands are key to reducing distracted driving, although the NHTSA acknowledges that many voice command systems currently available in vehicles are less than effective. But what about Apple’s voice command system Siri? The latest hot Mac rumor isn’t about the iPad or the iPhone—it’s about an Apple in-car user interface. Apple holds multiple patents for in-car user interfaces, and recent headhunting in China suggests that Apple is looking for a team to produce a dashboard interface. Some experts feel bringing Apple’s voice control system Siri to the car as part of a comprehensive entertainment and navigation system may help reduce distracted driving. The driver’s media content could be pre-loaded through iCloud via a home’s WiFi system when the car is parked in the driveway. Thanks to Siri, drivers could still keep their hands on the wheel, even while getting turn-by-turn navigation instructions, looking up a destination’s address or even swapping out playlists. There’s no need to take the eyes off the road or the hands off the wheel. What do you think: Would incorporating Siri or enhanced voice-control in vehicles reduce distracted driving?