'I Promise' drives safety

Ambitious program into its second year

By Mike Pettapiece
The Hamilton Spectator

Saturday, June 28, 2003

Gary Direnfeld recalls clearly the day the flash of insight came to him -- and almost ran him off the road.

He was driving to Toronto and a flashy car punched into his early-morning commuter's world.

"I was driving down the QEW at 5.30 in the morning and I got cut off by a young guy in a red Camaro. And I wanted to kill him."

Even now, five or six years later, the social work consultant still smolders at the memory.

Moments later, Direnfeld saw a transport that bore the sign, 'How's My Driving?' on its back end. And that's when an idea hatched for a similar sign program for young drivers.

What about a kind of personal contract for driving that young drivers and their parents might join? What if such a thing could induce young people to drive sober and safely -- and end the carnage of young deaths on highways?

"That's what twigged me, because I'd phone his (the Camaro driver's) parents."

Enter the I Promise program, now almost two years old, founded and managed by the Dundas resident. His own car has a sign, 'Am I Driving Safely?' with a toll-free number. And he and his son, Brennan, have their own contract they swear by.

No calls yet after two years of Brennan driving. And he's cool with the idea, despite what friends may think.

"It doesn't bother me," said the 19-year-old. "My friend asked me (about it) the other day. It's not a huge deal.

"It caused me to drive more safely -- to slow down, do small things ... that make a difference."

Direnfeld knows all about the toll of deaths and brutal injuries involving young drivers and their passengers in car accidents.

He says 6,000 young people die annually in North America this way. About 400,000 are injured.

In his social work career, he has seen and worked with brain-injured drivers and passengers. He became very frustrated as the litany of statistics grew right in front of him.

"Somehow, we take teen car crashes as an inevitability. Today, across North America, 16 teens will die and 1,100 will be hospitalized. If that were to happen all at once, in one place, can you imagine the outrage?"

If a program could result in young drivers becoming more aware and responsible -- maybe even push their parents to be better driving role models -- then such a program might have an impact on car crash numbers, health and insurance costs.

Insurance costs are punitive for a young driver, either with his or her own policy or as part of the family plan. Many young men find their premiums can be $4,000 or more, in some cases almost the value of the used car they drive -- clean driving record or not.

Such costs are symbolic of a national impasse. Insurance rates for everyone -- young and old alike -- have gone up, in some cases by more than 50 per cent. The rate hikes were so high they pushed the consumer price index to 3 per cent in April. Strip out insurance and the core rate was closer to 2 per cent.

Ontario's graduated licensing program is good, says Direnfeld, in that it limits young people to the times and highways they can drive. But eventually, he notes, they "fly solo. What then is the response?"

He thinks the answer is I Promise. Parents and their driving teens contract with each other to wear seat belts, to not drink and drive, to avoid in-car distractions, to not speed. Parents must be proper role models in this exercise, he says.

He has contracted with a call centre in Brantford to take the 1-866 calls. The I Promise number itself is 905-628-4847.

Direnfeld's idea is long on ambition and common sense, but short on pickup by parents, insurance brokers and insurance companies. He admits candidly that he has fewer than 180 decals out there, in 10 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.

"So, we've got a lot of breadth but not a lot of depth yet," he says.

Only one insurance carrier, Dominion of Canada General Insurance, backs it and offers an equivalent premium discount to offset the $49 annual cost of the program.

"We believe in it and we support it. We think it's worthwhile," said Mike Ravenscroft, the company's Ontario underwriting manager. "The real key to it is the contract."

Direnfeld parries a question on just how effective a rear-window sign with a phone number can be, especially since the sticker is not overly large or if drivers-by don't have a cell phone.

And what about crank calls? He says there's only been one call, period. And that was from a complimentary caller.

"The issue isn't whether you pick up the number. The issue is whether you have it in back of the car. ... The goal in this is to promote better driving and we are seeing that happen."

He does have his backers. Down in South Carolina, some people swear by the I Promise program.

One county that picked it up had a decrease in collisions and traffic violations over 2001-2002 compared to a neighbouring county.

In Canada, Transport Minister David Collenette wrote to Direnfeld. In a letter on the www.ipromiseprogram.com Web site, he commends Direnfeld "for your initiative with this program for young drivers".

In Hamilton, the insurance brokers association likes the idea too.

"This (I Promise) is an organization we, as a board, felt would have some merit," said Lorrie Adams, president of the brokers group. "This is a campaign we support."

The Hamilton brokers have helped promote and hand out I Promise literature and have added their logo to materials. Adams says all such public-good ideas often start out slow and small.

"You take Crime Stoppers. At one time, nobody knew who they were, what they did ... From our standpoint, we wish him success."

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, Executive Director
I Promise Program Inc.
20 Suter Crescent,
Dundas, Ontario, Canada
L9H 6R5

(905) 628-4847
garydi@sympatico.ca
www.ipromiseprogram.com