It might be the most exciting part of your teen years — getting a driver’s license. The freedom that comes with driving is exciting, but it’s important to remember that with that freedom comes significant responsibility.

Farm Bureau Financial Services created the Driveology™ program to help young drivers and their parents prepare for this milestone. You want to learn to drive, and we want to keep you safe on the road. Gaining experience, knowledge and confidence can help reduce teenage driving accidents. Check out these tips to stay safe on the road:

1. Put the phone away: Approximately 75 percent of teenagers from the ages of 12 to 17 own cell phones and 88 percent of teen cell phone users send text messages. Avoid cell phone use while driving, such as reading e-mails or texting while driving.

2. Avoid having too many people in the car: It’s difficult to concentrate on the road when you have too many people making noise in the car. Distracted driving puts you and your passengers at risk — the risk of a fatal accident involving teenager drivers increases with every additional passenger.

3. Turn down the tunes: Before you take off, adjust music volume and radio, CD or iPod settings. Adjusting these while driving is no different than being on the phone and it takes your attention away from the road. Also, be sure to adjust your air conditioning or heat before shifting into “drive.”

4. Make convenience secondary to safety: Cruising through the drive-through seems convenient, but eating and drinking while driving can be dangerous and it takes your hands off the wheel. Keep them at 10 and two, and not wrapped around a burger and fries.

5. Figure out where you’re going first: Worrying about directions and maps while focusing on the road is difficult and dangerous. Consult a map and determine where you’re going before you get into the car. It’s too distracting to deal with maps and directions when you’re at the wheel.

6. Keep important documents in order: If you’re in an accident or stopped by a police officer, it helps to have all important documents in one place — registration, proof of insurance, and your insurance agent’s card. Keep items organized and in one place for easy access, and make sure you know what questions to ask in the event of an accident.

7. Prepare for adverse weather: Depending on where you live, adverse weather can range from snow and ice, to rain and high winds. Avoid driving in adverse weather whenever possible. If you must drive, check road conditions in advance, clear your car of ice and snow, and drive slowly and carefully.

8. Steer away from peer pressure: If a friend is pressuring you to drive too fast, drive while intoxicated or let a friend drive while intoxicated, try these tips to do the right thing — blame your parents, be the voice of reasons or just say no.

9. Hit the books: Paying attention in class can pay off on insurance rates. Good student discounts offer savings you can measure for drivers that maintain a “B” average or higher GPA. Consider taking the Farm Bureau Financial Services Driveology program to earn the Driven to Safety discount. (With all those savings, why not ask for an increase in your allowance?)

10. Wear your seatbelt: Make sure to ask that all passengers in your car wear their seatbelts, too. A driver fatality statistic provided by NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis indicates that wearing seat belts improves the survival rate of front-seat passengers by 45 percent.

The Pew Research Center. Lenhart, Amanda. “Teens, Cell Phones and Texting.” April 20, 2010. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teens-cell-phones-text-messages. Accessed March 24, 2011.