http://www.thefamily.com/affiliates/guestfeature/direnfeld_safedriving.html
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Guest Feature |
April 2002 |
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Safe Driving Habits For by |
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"Studies show that the first year of driving is the most dangerous . . . parents with good driving records tend to have children with good driving records" |
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Teen driver car crashes remain the leading cause of permanent injury and death in teens. According to the Center for Disease Control,
unintentional injuries rank as the leading cause of death for 16 – 20 year
olds. Of the unintentional injuries, car crashes rank number one. In fact,
for 1999 across the These numbers are staggering and point to the importance of crash prevention for this age group. No single other intervention has the potential to save as many teenage lives or reduce injuries, not to mention the sheer property damage. Why do strategies and programs to reduce the risk of teen related car crashes remain few? The answer to this probably lies in the confusion between “unintentional” and ‘accidental.” The dictionary defines accident as, “anything happening unexpectedly without known or assignable cause.” Many folks consider car crashes as accidents and hence unavoidable. Actually though, car crashes are anything but accidents. While they may be unintended, there are several known causes or contributors, which if addressed could significantly alter the crash, injury and death rates. Contributors to teen car crashes include:
Until recently there was
little parents could do directly with their teens before handing over the
keys to the family car. Now there is a new initiative just introduced to The initiative relies on and promotes parents as role models, recognizing the fact that parents with good driving records tend to have children with good driving records. Parents and teen enter into a mutual safe driving contract that spells out for both expectations for responsible road use. Then, to seal the deal, a decal displaying a toll-free phone number is placed in the vehicle’s rear window. The purpose of the decal is to provide parent and teen a means of accountability to their mutual commitment and to act as an ongoing reminder to drive safely. Should a call ever be taken, it is answered by a professional call center trained to weed out false reports. A letter detailing the nature of the call is then sent to the family only. The family determines who was the driver by the date time and location of the incident reported and then deals with the matter as predetermined by the family contract. There is a cost of $49.00 to participate, but an objective of the program is for it to be available at no cost, provided as a benefit by automobile insurers. Studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that the first year of driving is the most dangerous and speeding is the greatest cause for crashes in this group. The I Promise safe driving program may put the brakes on dangerous driving habits while at the same time promote safer drivers. If you want more information on the program visit the website: www.ipromiseprogram.com Or contact:
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