Suffolk resident Hope Holman got tired of dealing with the impatience of other drivers when she was teaching her three teenagers to drive.

“They were making a lot of mistakes,” said Holman, whose children are all grown now. “That’s going to happen.”

She said other drivers grew frustrated and often tailgated or swerved past her teens while they were practicing, with Holman supervising in the passenger seat.

“I thought, ‘I need to think of a way to alert them so they could be aware,’” Holman said.

About five years ago, she started thinking of ways to make that happen. She asked around and couldn’t find a ready-made way to alert other drivers.

“I’m all about identifying unmet needs and minimizing damages,” said Holman, a retired Navy firefighter who recently received her Master of Social Work degree. “Car crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens. Minimizing that risk is crucial.”

So was born her business, Hope4MyTeen LLC.

The business manufactures car magnets and window flags in safety yellow and black, warning other people that a teen driver is at the wheel, similar in concept to the “student driver” markings on vehicles used by driving schools.

She officially launched the business Oct. 1, and customers have already told her they’ve noticed other drivers being more cautious around their teen drivers.

“She noticed people gave them space and were more forgiving,” Holman said of one parent in particular.

New drivers in Virginia must hold their learner’s permit for at least nine months, complete a driver education program and have 45 hours of driving practice with their parent or guardian, 15 of which are at night.

“It’s been a very exciting journey,” Holman said of her business, which has as its slogan “Out of my pain comes your solution.”

“It’s good to be able to talk to other parents,” she said. “Being able to mark your vehicle sets you at ease.”

Holman said she suggests using the signs only during the learner’s permit phase. That way, there is an adult with them should an unscrupulous individual want to take advantage of them.

She’s hoping to work with insurance companies to offer a discount to customers who use the markings or to work with state government to make them mandatory for teens.

She also has plans to develop and market similar markings for senior drivers, she said.

Holman plans to give part of the proceeds from her business to Elder’s House, a home for at-risk teens her church, Mount Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church, is building in Chesapeake.

“I just strongly believe whatever we do, we ought to have something that pushes us outside of ourselves,” Holman said.

More information on the business can be found at www.hope4myteen.com.