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Many promise to tackle teen driving safety |
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I Promise
campaign one approach to making drivers responsible |
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Linda McAvoy |
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Imagine opening your mail and finding a letter stating that at Rather than originating with police, the complaint comes from
another motorist who saw your son driving unsafely, noted the license number
and reported it by calling the toll-free telephone number listed on a sticker
stuck to the back window of your car. That's just what could happen if you subscribe to the I Promise
Program, a driver-monitoring program meant to promote safe driving and driver
accountability. The service — http://www.ipromiseprogram.com
— was launched in January by For a registration fee of $49, subscribers receive a parent-teen
mutual safe-driving contract, a rear window decal with a toll-free number,
plus one year of community monitoring service. Calls are taken by a
professional call centre and the information (complaint or compliment) is
mailed to the contact person, usually a parent worried about their teen's
driving habits. The concern of parents is justified; traffic crashes are the
leading cause of injury to, and death of, young people in Lack of driving experience, immaturity and poor perception of
hazards, plus reckless behaviour, often prove to be
a lethal combination for teens behind the wheel. Asked whether she'd be in favour of
such a program, Maureen Mione, a mother of teen
drivers, replied "My first thought was, `No. My kids are good drivers.'
My next thought was, `Maybe I'm being naïve.' "It boils down to if we get one teen to think before he or
she gets in the car again, then that is good." Many young drivers oppose the idea. They point out that police
already monitor drivers, and argue that these programs single out teens,
labeling them as incompetent drivers. "It's embarrassing to teens and makes it look like our
parents don't trust us," says 18-year-old Ashley Giovinazzo.
"No one is a perfect driver and I wouldn't like being singled out."
Jay Van Zeeland, president of Tell-My-Mom.com, an American
driver monitoring program, which also serves Canada and France, offers no
apologies for blatantly targeting teen drivers (although he also runs
Tell-My-Boss.com). Van Zeeland says: "If just one of those calls to this
type of program, mine or anyone else's, saves a life, then it's worth
it." Of the 4,500 calls his service received last year, about 70 per
cent were complaints. (The most common grievance being that a teen driver cut
off the complainant.) Direnfeld points out that I Promise Program's window decal asks
only: "Am I Driving Safely?" with no reference to teen drivers.
It's conceivable then that complaints could be lodged against parents seen
driving unsafely in a stickered vehicle. Statistics
on this and other aspects are unavailable as the program, with an undisclosed
number of subscribers in two provinces and four states so far, has yet to
receive any reports of driver behaviour. Direnfeld construes this as evidence the program works; its
ultimate goal is prevention through reinforcement of good driving habits, not
their punishment. The parent-teen contract is the key factor, he says. In signing
it, both parties promise to abide by conditions they both agree to. The
contract covers seatbelt use, passenger restrictions, alcohol use, car care
responsibilities and rewards or consequences for following or breaching the
contract. "Because it is a mutual contract with regard to reasonable
road behaviour and because we approach the parent
as the role model, we meet with very little resistance from teens," says
Direnfeld. It is this component of the program that prompted the
participation of The Dominion of Canada General Insurance "We're interested in programs that reduce the frequency and
severity of accidents for all drivers, particularly young drivers," says
George Cooke, CEO of Dominion. "What's really appealing about this
program is the way in which it introduces the notion of accountability for
both parent and child." Other insurers take a different tack. Allstate Insurance Co. of
Canada has developed its own youth safe-driving initiative. After sponsoring
the 1999 report, "Youth and Road Crashes: Reducing the risks from
inexperience, immaturity and alcohol", in conjunction with Mothers
Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada and the Traffic Injury Research
Foundation, Allstate developed its own Drive Safe Agreement, which deals with
sober driving behaviour and rules agreed upon by
parents and driving teens. "By putting the issues on the table and opening the
communication between teens and parents, we sure hope it's a preventative
measure for safe teen driving," says Allstate spokesperson Laurie
Atkinson. Most parties agree the key element is discussion between parents
and teens; both benefit from being reminded of the safe and responsible way
to drive. Some parents feel a contract on driving habits is not enough to
guarantee their peace of mind. Those who want to know exactly what their
teenager is doing with the family car can find the answers in a black box. Vehicle-tracking systems come in a wide range of models, from
simple to sophisticated, and are sold in stores and on the Internet. . Basic password-protected models come in do-it-yourself kits,
which include hardware and software, plus installation instructions for
connecting it to the car. (Battery-powered units are also available.) Low-end models download the recorded information onto a personal
computer. Advanced tracking systems often consist of dealer-installed
hardware and a monthly subscription service. |
Contact:
Gary Direnfeld, MSW,
Executive Director
I Promise Program
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(905) 628-4847
gary123@sympatico.ca
www.ipromiseprogram.com