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Ford Launches Campaign to Help Teens Hone Their Driving Skills

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#1 ·
TheAutoChannel

DEARBORN, Mich., May 8, 2003 -- According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 6,000 teens die each year from injuries resulting from car crashes -- making it the number one killer of teens in America. Yet, a recent national survey by Wirthlin Worldwide shows that many people underestimate the challenges novice drivers face. When asked, 56 percent of Americans named drug abuse as the leading health threat teenagers face, with only 13 percent identifying teen driving crashes as the number one threat.

To help raise awareness and fight back against this serious youth health issue, Ford Motor Company, along with the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), today announced the launch of "Real World Driver: Driving Skills for Life" at a press conference in Dearborn, Michigan.

"Real World Driver" is a multi-year, educational campaign aimed at teens, parents and the education community. The program includes a teacher's guide, video and other materials that are being distributed to every public high school in the country (more than 20,000 schools). An interactive Web site -- www.realworlddriver.com -- also has been launched to give students and parents more information about driving skills and provide visitors the opportunity to take a quiz online for a chance to win exciting prizes.

Four Critical Driving Skills

To design the program, Ford and GHSA convened a distinguished panel of safety experts that included NHTSA, the International Association of Chiefs of Police Highway Safety Committee and The Transportation Safety Association. According to the Real World Driver Advisory Board, the four key driving skills young drivers should master are: hazard recognition, vehicle handling, space management and speed management.

Wirthlin's research also indicated that just 11 percent of parents and 12 percent of all adults are satisfied with the training resources available to first-time drivers. Moreover, nearly all parents (94 percent) are concerned about their teens driving independently.

Buckle Up

While hands-on, behind-the-wheel training and educational materials are important elements of any safe driving program, Ford reminds all drivers that safety belts continue to provide the single, most effective protection in any vehicle crash.
 
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#2 ·
Teen drivers will get 'real world' training

High crash rate, fatalities prompt safe driving program

By Sarah A. Webster / The Detroit News

DEARBORN -- Seventeen-year-old Beth Jenkins of Grand Ledge can sympathize with parents and other adults who feel uneasy, even queasy, when young drivers hit the road.

She's been nervous in vehicles with friends who blare the radio, talk on their cell phones and speed. Some of her friends have rear-ended other cars.

One hit a mailbox. A cousin recently rolled his truck.

So Jenkins believes in the need for the teen driver safety program announced Thursday by Ford Motor Co., the Governors Highway Safety Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"We can use it," said Jenkins, one of more than 60 teen-agers who received driver training at a Ford test track in Dearborn as part of the program's kickoff.

The three-year, $6 million "Real World Driver" initiative aims to improve teen driving skills to curb car crashes -- the leading cause of death among teen-agers -- as many cash-strapped high schools across the country have curtailed or eliminated driver education classes.

"We think we can really make a difference, and they're our future customers, too," said Susan Cischke, Ford's top safety executive.

The move comes as Ford and other automakers are trying to win the hearts of Generation Y, the 65 million Americans born between 1977 and 1995.

More than 6,000 teens die annually from car crash injuries, with about 3,600 of the victims actually behind the wheel, according to federal statistics. Many more teens are in non-fatal wrecks. And about half of the 4 million teen-agers who get their driver's license each year will be in a crash by age 20.

As part of the Real World Driver program, more than 20,000 public high schools will receive a teacher's guide, video and other materials to help educate teens on how to drive more safely. The program will focus on four areas believed to be the most challenging for inexperienced drivers: hazard recognition, vehicle handling, speed and space management.

An interactive Web site -- www.realworlddriver.com -- has been launched to offer instruction as well. Real World Driver also will offer hands-on instruction to teens in eight cities around the country beginning this fall. The cities have not been identified.

Kathryn Swanson, chair of the Governors Highway Safety Association, said the program would help fill the gap being left by schools that have dropped driver education.

"You can't just throw new drivers into the deep end," she said.

While most adults are concerned about teen driving and would like to see more training, they underestimate the risk car crashes pose for teens.

Only 13 percent of more than 1,000 adults surveyed for Ford in December correctly viewed car crashes as the leading health risk for teens. More than half mistakenly believed that drugs or alcohol are the biggest threat.

In future years, Ford's Cischke said, technology may help teens, as well as other drivers, prevent crashes. Sensors that tell drivers they're driving too close to other vehicles or that stabilize vehicles in turns may help, she said.

But some teen-agers who attended Thursday's announcement questioned why some features, like automatic seat belts, have been discontinued and wondered if new technology might make teen drivers more lazy or encourage them to take greater risks.

"They don't take the place of good driving skills," Cischke said of new technologies.

Ford officials also emphasized the company's support of graduated licensing laws, which phase teen-agers into driving slowly with restrictions.
 

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