"Helicopter parents" have landed on the highways. Moms and dads concerned about their kids behind the wheel, or alarmed by the statistic that one third of all teens have accidents within their first year of driving, now have another option—short of purchasing a GPS tracking device—to monitor their newly licensed drivers. Steer Straight, a service launched by Massachusetts moms Deborah Smith and Anne London last month, sells bumper stickers similar to those used by commercial truckers that read HOW'S MY TEEN DRIVING? and a monitored phone number to report risky driving. London spoke with NEWSWEEK's Caitlin McDevitt and explained how parents can now learn within minutes about mistakes their teens make on the road. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: How does Steer Straight work?
Anne London: Steer Straight provides each member with two colorful bumper stickers … Motorists are encouraged to phone in comments on a teen's driving, should it be warranted. Call-ins are answered live, 24/7, by a staff professionally trained by DriverCheck, the leading "How's My Driving" organization in the commercial industry. The motorist's call then generates an observation report, which is e-mailed to the teen's parents within 15 minutes of the call. You can also sign up to have an optional text message sent to the parents' cell phone, alerting them if an observation report is e-mailed.

How much does it cost?
Ninety-nine dollars for a yearly family membership, and discounts are offered for multi-year memberships. This pays for two stickers with a toll-free number and individual ID number to be placed on the cars the teen or teens drive, [for] our trained professionals [to] answer any phone-ins and generate an observation report with any pertinent details, and [for] member access to the "Teen Test Drives"—our educational modules—any time you want or need them. 

So, say a teen is spotted running a red light, and a driver reports it. How soon would the parent find out?
On average, within three minutes. We aim to send the report within 15 minutes. The full observation report includes where the incident occurred and what the caller saw. In addition, the report includes a link back to our Web site with access to the online training modules. The modules are specific to the type of driving infraction that was reported.

Are the police ever involved?
Never. This is something for families only. We use the line "Driving teens to think." This is a huge responsibility. Steer Straight is not about penalizing teens. It's about encouraging more accountability and preparation, and ultimately making them better drivers. 

Could this ever raise a teen's auto insurance rates?
No, this is a private matter between teens and their parents. It's about them working together. The information is not shared with anyone. One opportunity we do see with insurance companies is potentially partnering with them so that families that sign up for Steer Straight could get a discount on insurance.   

How often do you get good reports?
About 10 percent of the reports are complimentary. One said, "We just wanted to let parent know kid was doing a good job." But it's not just about the number of reports and whether they were positive or negative. It's also about just getting teens to think a little more when they get behind the wheel. It makes a teen a more conscientious driver, gives their parents peace of mind and confidence in their teen's ability, and because of this, helps build more trust between them.

How can you protect against prank calls?
Callers are notified that the call is being recorded. In the commercial industry, they have a lot of experience in this area. They tend to know when a call is not genuine. These are the same people who are answering our calls.

Are there other similar programs out there?
While the few existing systems we've seen that address the issue of teen driving are punitive in nature—for example, teen GPS systems [that alert parents when their kids go a certain number of miles over the speed limit]—we understand the challenges of teen-parent relationships. Our approach—the e-mail report, education modules, strict confidentiality—is designed to be less intrusive and to ultimately give the teen more freedom and the parent more peace of mind.

Some people might argue that the ultimate peace of mind comes from keeping teens off the roads in the first place. If kids are making so many driving mistakes, why not just increase the driving age?
I think there comes a time to let go, a time to get them out there on the road. It's not always easy to do, but hopefully Steer Straight makes it more manageable. I believe teens should be out there, but they need to appreciate the responsibility and challenges of driving. And parents have a right to be involved.