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■ 69 percent said that they speed to keepup with traffic

■ 64 percent said they speed to gothrough a yellow light

■ 47 percent said that passengerssometimes distract them

■ Nearly half said they believed that mostcrashes involving teens result fromdrunk driving

■ 31 percent of teen drivers killed in 2006had been drinking, according toNHTSA. and 25 percent had a bloodalcohol concentration of .08 or higher

■ Statistics show that 16- and 17-year-olddriver death rates increase with eachadditional passenger (IIHS)

W ith 40 years of experience and morethan 250,000 graduates, the Bob

Bondurant School of High PerformanceDriving, together with General Motors, hasthe facilities, tools, vehicles, and personnelto combat this teen driving epidemic. Theirexperience shows that one of the mostdangerous things anyone do is hand thekeys of a vehicle to a teen driver with onlysub-par training and very limited experi-ence behind the wheel.

The Bondurant School uses its collectiveexpertise to achieve their vision: to reachout to the next generation of drivers, giveback to the future of our country and world,and save lives. They start with clipboard-

carrying, dual steering wheel and brakepedal, 24-student-to-1-instructor experi-ential training, and add their time-testedtechniques to accomplish this vision.

At a maximum of 24 students per oneday class, a maximum of three studentsper instructor, and just one student percar, this one-day driver introductionprogram provides the seat time necessaryfor a strong basis in car control skills.More than just awareness training,students practice car control skills andexperience first-hand of innovative safetyfeatures designed into GM vehicles suchas the Pontiac Solstice, Chevy Impala,

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30 • July-August 2008 • ARIZONADRIVER

DRIVING SKILLS : BONDURANT SUMMER TEEN DRIVING PROGRAM

We’ve all been exposed to at least someof these disturbing national teen drivingstatistics:■ Motor vehicle crashes are the leading

cause of death for teenagers■ 16-year-olds have higher crash rates

than drivers of any other age■ 16-year-olds are three times more likely

to die in a motor vehicle crash than theaverage of all drivers

■ 3,490 drivers ages 15-20 died in carcrashes in 2006, up slightly from 2005

■ Drivers ages 15-20 accounted for 12.9percent of all drivers involved in fatalcrashes and 16 percent of all driversinvolved in police-reported crashes in2006

■ The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration (NHTSA) estimates theeconomic impact of auto accidentsinvolving 15- to 20-year-old drivers isover $40 billion

■ A recent report by AAA estimates thecost of crashes involving 15- to 17-year-olds to be $34 billion

■ Graduated drivers license programsappear to be making a difference. Fatalcrashes involving 15- to 20-year olds in2005 were down 6.5 percent from 7,979in 1995, to the lowest level in ten years

■ Fewer 16-year-olds are driving. In 2006only 30 percent of 16-year-olds hadtheir driver’s licenses, compared to 40%in 1998, according to the FederalHighway Administration

According to a 2005 Allstate Foundationsurvey of 1,000 people ages 15 to 17: ■ More than half (56 percent) of young

drivers use cell phones while driving

BOB BONDURANT SCHOOL OF HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVING: NEW TEEN DRIVING PROGRAM

SKID CONTROL – Teens will experience bothundersteer and oversteer conditions and theproper skills to recover in slick conditions.

ACCIDENT AVOIDANCE SIMULATOR – Anemergency lane-change scenario will teachstudents the pros and cons to avoiding a situ-ation versus braking for it. Students will alsolearn skills in vehicle weight transfer, properuse of their vision, and time required tomaneuver a vehicle. Distractions with cellphones and conversations with passengers inthe vehicle will be discussed.

MARICOPA OVAL – This will teach teens tolook through a corner to where they want togo and choose the safest path to get there.

PMC (PRECISION MANEUVERS COURSE) –Students will develop the ability to judgewhere the four corners of their vehicle arewhile maneuvering through a low-speedcourse. Maneuvers include parallel parking,garage entry, back-in parking, 3-point turn,and a low speed slalom course.

“My son’s 16th birthday present a couple of yearsago was a day at The Bob Bondurant School of HighPerformance Driving. Not only was it the best day ofhis life, he also recently used his skills that helearned there. He was driving home from work andsomeone swerved into his lane. He said thateverything he learned at Bondurant just came backto him and he was able to avoid an accident. So, welove Bondurant!”

WHERE: The Bob Bondurant School of HighPerformance Driving at Firebird Raceway,Chandler, AZ.

WHEN: July 19, August 16, and September 6.Additional dates may be added in Decemberand early January. Dates will be selectedaccording to Bondurant’s seasonal trend toavoid our busiest season and ensure thefocus necessary for these students.

HOW: Without the distraction of more maturedrivers wanting to experience the limits of thevehicles and having vehicles of substantiallydifferent capabilities, teens will be able tofocus on the training with others at a similarskill and experience level. The facility will besolely used for the 24 teens enrolled in ourteen driving program on pre-scheduled dates,typically on weekends. Vehicles used for theprogram will include Bondurant’s PontiacSolstice, Chevrolet Impala and Malibu. Allvehicles have automatic transmissions.

PRICE: $795.

CONTACT: For more information, or to reserveyour spot in this program, call or visit online:480-961-0143 • www.bondurant.com

The Bob Bondurant School of High Perfor-mance Driving is the Official High PerformanceDriving School of General Motors. ■

Cadillac CTS, and Chevy Silverado. The Bondurant School’s Summer Teen

Driving Program is designed for teen driverswho have attained the requirements to applyfor a driver’s license or have recently acquiredtheir license. At a minimum, drivers will have40+ hours with their permit and plan to applyfor their license within the next 30 days.(Teenagers who have been driving for sixmonths or more with a license will beencouraged to take Bondurant’s AdvancedTeen Driving program.)

Each teen will be provided with theessential skill set to be a safer driver and tolearn respect for the road. The focus of theprogram is not on achieving the vehicle’slimits, but to develop confidence, awarenessof surroundings, and a proper foundation forbeing a safer driver. Graduates of the TeenDriving Program will be encouraged to returnfor the Advanced Teen Driving program as away to expand their skills and understand avehicle’s limits and their own limits.

“My daughter just completed your teenage drivingcourse. Just one week later your teaching and skillssaved her life. She was driving in the rain and the carshe was driving hydroplaned. She started slidingtowards a telephone pole and she told me that she didnot touch the brake but turned into the skid andapplied a little throttle and regained control of the car.She stated that it was the skid car instruction that yougave her that allowed her to avoid a crash”

Teenage drivers are especially ill-equippedto handle the pressures of driving in thePhoenix metro area. Teens are grantedpermission to drive without having the experi-ence to handle emergency situations. Parentsare rightly concerned with their teenagedriver taking the family car out for the firsttime on their own, without having thisvaluable experience. Bondurant believesthere is information that graduated driverlicensing programs miss before teens aregranted a license to drive, and they under-stand that parents don’t want to send theirkids out on the road without proper training.Bondurant is well known as being expert inthe performance driver training arena, andwith their purpose-built facility, the School iswell equipped to bridge that gap.

The 24 students in each class will bedivided into as many as four groups rotatingthrough the different exercises. Skillslearned will include weight transfer, visualtechnique, increased awareness, anticipa-tion of events and confidence in the vehicleand themselves.

SLALOM – This course will teach the studentto elevate their vision, to experience lateralweight transfer and choosing the best paththrough the course at common street drivingspeeds.

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