We have three nieces back home; the oldest of the bunch is on the precipice of high school. This is very disconcerting to us, mostly because it makes us feel like an old lady, but also because when kids hit high school, everything changes -- not only for the kids, but for the adults in their lives, also.

Take our niece, for example. She is already thinking about what to study in college (we can handle that part). She's already thinking about dating (but not on our watch, she's not). Finally, she is already thinking about driving (oy, gevalt!).

It is not exactly a secret that teen drivers usually rank up there on the "bad driver list", mostly because they simply lack driving experience that adults have.

While pursuing the Web last week, we came upon an article on the Web site www.cars.com citing the top ten mistakes teenage drivers make. The article, written by Kelsey Mays, relied on a survey conducted by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance in January 2007 and several studies conducted by universities in the past decade.

In our opinion, all of the mistakes Mays cited are pitfalls that drivers of any age are susceptible to. These three below, however, jumped out at us as being tied to teenagers more than adults. We checked out what the studies in Mays's article had to say about each, but we also remembered back a million years ago when we were first started driving solo.

Whether you are in your late teens with two or three years of driving experience under your belt, a freshmen learning on a permit or just passed your driver's test, teens: Heed the following:

* Overcrowding the car. It's the night of the big game, and you're the only one in your group of friends who can drive. What else can you do but pile everyone into the backseat? According to Mays's article, the decision isn't a good one.

"Extra passengers often result in teens driving more aggressively," she wrote. "The NIH study found that when accompanied by male passengers in the front seat, teens of both genders speed more and leave shorter following distances."

Also, more people in a vehicle can mean more distractions for the driver. While some studies suggest drivers are actually more aware of how they are driving with passengers in tow, it can be easy to get caught up in what your two best friends are talking about rather than focusing on the road ahead.

* Handling emergencies. In an ideal world, no one would ever have a car accident. Everyone would yield when they're suppose to, people would drive the speed limit and drivers could depend on other drivers to mind traffic signs and signals.

Dare to dream.

If you are in an accident (regardless if you are at fault or not), try not to panic. Call the police to tell them what happened, even if no one is injured and the vehicles do not sustain serious damage.

And no matter what happens, do not drive away from the scene of the accident. An article in the Des Moines Register last week reported a 17 year-old driver panicked after allegedly rear-ending a van, then sped away from the accident and struck and killed a man on a motorcycle a few blocks away. Not only is fleeing the scene of a vehicle accident illegal, the consequences can become much more dire.

* Following too closely. Practice starts in 10 minutes, you're already late and glaciers move faster than the driver in front of you. We can tell you from personal experience, tailgating and following them closely will not make them go faster.

Bear this in mind: Slamming to a stop on your brakes is not safe, nor is it good for your vehicle. Driving at 60 miles per hour means you will stop only 88 feet per second. If you are bearing down on someone in front you, chances are if they slam on their brakes for whatever reason, the front half of your vehicle will end up in their trunk.

Give yourself some personal space. Stay at least two or three car lengths behind the person in front of you. Give yourself enough room in case you need to stop suddenly.

Follow Meghan Malloy's commuter blog and track the cheapest gasoline prices in town daily at www.kjonline.com.