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“I Promise Program” designed to challenge
teens to drive safely
By Dianne Cornish
February 13 2002
”At the end of the day, every parent wants their son or daughter to return
home safely each and every time they take the car or are a passenger of
another teen driver. At the end of the day, I wanted our son to return
home
safely too.” Those statements, uttered by
explain the reasons behind his development of the teen-based safe driving
initiative, the “I Promise Program.”
The
North American launch of the program took place last week at
details of the innovative scheme, which Direnfeld developed over the last
two years in consultation with experts in the fields of medicine, traffic
safety, parenting, and law enforcement throughout
States
Central to the
program is a parent-teen mutual safe driving contract and a
public commitment to safe driving. To seal the contract, a decal displaying
a toll-free phone number is placed in the back window of the family car,
enabling people to call to comment on the driving they witness.
Calls
are taken by professional call centre personnel, trained to weed out
false reports. The comments are then passed on to the family.
It’s
the mutual accountability aspect of the contract which Direnfeld sees
as its greatest advantage. The contract isn’t punitive; it simply sets
rules
for responsible driving for teen and parent, he explained.
A
concern for the well-being of teens goes naturally with Direnfeld’s career
as a social worker and his stint for most of the 1990s as executive director
of a privately-owned brain injury rehabilitation services program in
and while working with brain trauma patients, he often had the sad duty
of
telling parents that their teenage children would have lifelong and
permanent injuries, often as a result of car crashes.
But
the incident which led to the development of the “I Promise Program”
happened while Direnfeld was commuting to
was passed on the highway by a young man in a speeding Camaro.
As
a parent of a son approaching the legal age of driving, Direnfeld said
his first reaction was, “I really wanted to tell that boy¹s parents about
his aggressive driving.” He dismissed the thought, knowing there was no
possible way of following through on his wish. However, shortly afterwards,
he saw a “How¹s My Driving” decal on the back of a truck and the idea
of the
”I Promise Program” began to take shape.
Not
long afterwards, Direnfeld and his wife, Arlene, signed a mutual safe
driving contract with their son, Brennan. Now 17, Brennan has been driving
the family car with the “I Promise” rear window decal for the past eight
months with no reported incidents.
“We
have committed our family to driving safely,” Direnfeld stressed. “We
love and care about each other and that is what this is all about.”
Now
that the program has been officially launched in
step is to get as many people signed up at the lowest cost possible,
Direnfeld said. The program is available directly to parents and teens
for
$49, or they can access the program through the Dominion of Canada General
Insurance Company, the first insurance group in the country to introduce
a
discount for participation in the new initiative. The $40 per family cost
of
the program through the company is completely covered by the discount.
Direnfeld
hopes other insurance companies will follow Dominion’s lead. If
they distribute his program, “they can reduce the cost of claims,” he
maintained.
Teen-driver
car crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for teens
across
more than 400,000 are injured. The economic consequence of this is estimated
at over $32.8 billion
For
more information about the program, contact Direnfeld at 905-628-4847
or
by e-mail at gary123@sympatico.ca or visit the program’s website at
www.ipromiseprogram.com.
Contact:
Gary
Direnfeld, Executive Director
I Promise Program
20
(905) 628-4847
gary123@sympatico.ca
www.ipromiseprogram.com
