Tiny video camera that records teenage drivers is hit with parents

For decades teenagers have achieved independence through passing their driving test.

But that joy may now be short-lived as one insurance company is offering parents the chance to place a video camera in the car with their children.

The tiny two-way camera, which also records audio, is placed on the rear-view mirror in the centre of the windscreen. It tapes both footage of the driver and his view of the road ahead.

DriveCam: A tiny two-way camera, which also records audio, is placed on the rear-view mirror - allowing parents to monitor teenage drivers

Should a driver have an accident, violently swerve or even brake too hard, a video of what happened before and after the event is sent by the insurance company to the teenager and his parents.

The desired effect is to force teenagers to drive sensibly and therefore prevent deaths on the road caused by careless and inexperienced drivers.

American Family Insurance has teamed up with California-based technology company DriveCam to offer protective - or just paranoid - U.S. parents the opportunity to spy on their teenager's habits behind the wheel.

The service is offered at no extra cost, the insurance company said, neither is it designed to settle legal claims made against AFI drivers.

Unsurprisingly, the teenagers themselves have reacted less than favourably.

No excuses: A teenage girl applies lipstick (above) while driving on a motorway. Her lack of care results in her car spinning, narrowly missing a lorry (below)

The primary complaint is that their parents will be able to see what they get up to at precisely the moment when they have traditionally broken free and hit the open road.

But Phil Reed, senior consumer advice editor at U.S. car website Edmunds.com, said the DriveCam device is actually less intrusive than some satellite navigation systems.

He told the Kansas City Star: 'There’s that Big Brother sort of stereotype associated with this system.

'But once teenagers know that the only way their parents are going to see any of the video is when they do something erratic in the car, then they become more open to using this.

'In fact, it could be considered less intrusive than some GPS devices that other insurers are experimenting with for teenage drivers.'