June 2002

Teen driving focus of safety week

By SALLE E. RICHARDS
Star-Gazette, Elmira, NY

Today starts the first week of National Safety Month and with it a special focus on teen-age drivers.

Summer is the season with greatest number of crash fatalities, said Gary Direnfeld, executive director of a Canadian organization that has developed a contract for parents to use to encourage their teens to be safer drivers.

The “I Promise Program” is coordinating its efforts with the U.S. National Safety Council to put further emphasis on this week as a time to discuss safety with teen drivers, Direnfeld said.

"The basic problem with teen-agers is they are fearless," says John Taft, who is the director of the Elmira school district's summer driving education program.

Taft defends the competency of younger drivers.

"On a closed course, they do exceptionally well," he said. "But in real life, they don't have the experience to anticipate danger."

Sgt. William Bresser of the Elmira Police Department agrees that youthful exuberance is why motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among those 15 to 20 years old.

"Teens tend to drive faster and take more risks," he said. "Their risk of having a crash is four times as much as an older driver."

One thing Taft believes parents can do to protect their teen driver is insist they take a driver education course.

"Does it work?" he said. "The insurance companies think so. They will reduce the rate of those who take a driver education course 10 percent."

Direnfeld offers some typical driving myths for parents to discuss with their teen-agers:

- It's safer to drive at night when their is less traffic. That's wrong. Teens are most apt to die crashes between 1 and 5 a.m.

- Teens are safer drivers when they have passengers. No, statistics show the more teens in a car, the more likely a crash because of driver distraction. Parents should limit passengers allowed in their teen drivers' cars.

- Alcohol is the leading cause of teen driver related car crashes. Speeding is the No. 1 cause of teen driver car crashes.

- Parent-youth safe driving contracts don't work. Contracts encourage communication and allow parents to set clear limits for teens. Parents can find a sample contract at the "I Promise" Web site: www.ipromiseprogram.com .

Accidents

Statistics from the National Safety Council on teen driving:

- Motor vehicle crashes caused 43,000 deaths in 2000.

- 65 percent of teen passenger deaths occur when another teen-ager is driving.

Contact information:

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

(905) 628-4847
gary123@sympatico.ca
www.ipromiseprogram.com