STARTING TEENS IN THE DRIVER SEAT® IN YOUR COMMUNITY

A PEER-TO-PEER SAFETY PROGRAM TO HELP STOPTHE NUMBER-ONE KILLER OF TEENAGERS IN AMERICA

Keep our drive alive.

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• About3,500teensperyeararekilledintrafficcrashesintheUnitedStates.(NHTSA)That’slikeloadingupa737jetwithhighschoolstudentsandcrashingiteveryotherweekforanentireyear!

• 16-year-oldsareabout4TIMESmorelikelytobeinvolvedinafatalcrash(IIHS)

• Carcrashesareresponsibleformorethan40%ofteendeaths(CDC)

• Foreveryteenagerkilled,morethan50othersareseriouslyinjured,totallingnearly500,000teenswhoareinjuredeachyearincarcrashes(NHTSA)

SO…WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?Simple—youngdriversjustdon’thaveenoughdrivingexperience.Inaddition,mostyoungdriversdon’tknowthedangersthey

faceeverytimetheygetinthedriver’sseat.Sincetheyarenotawareofthedangers,theydon’tknowhowtoavoidthem.Injustabouteverycrashinvolvingayoungdriver,you’llfindcommonfactorsthatcontributedtothecrash.

Thegoodnewsistheseinjuries

anddeathscanbeprevented.

INTRODUCTIONToo many teens are dying. You can help stop that.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON FACTORS?

• Drivingatnight/fatigue

• Speeding/racing

• Distractions—likecellphones,textingandotherteenpassengers

• Notwearingasafetybelt

• Alcohol/drugs

Expertscallthisanepidemic,andthey’reright.It’soutofcontrol.Butthisprogram,“TeensintheDriverSeat®,”isturningthingsaround,andyourschoolcanbepartofit.

Foryears,mostdrivingsafetycampaignshavebeenprettymuchthesame.They’vebeenputtogetherbyadults—parents,teachers,policeofficersandpoliticians…alltellingyouwhatyouneedtodo.Butthisprogramisdifferent.Itisteens,justlikeyou,talkingtootherteensaboutthetopdrivingdangers.Don’tletanyofyourfriendsdieorgetseriouslyinjured.TeensintheDriverSeatsaveslives,anditcanworktosavethelivesofyourfriendstoo.

Whileinhighschool,you’llprobablyneverdoanythingmoredangerousthandriveacar—orrideinonethat’sdrivenbyanotherteenager.CarcrashesaretheleadingcauseofinjuryanddeathforteensinAmerica.

Start Teens in the Driver Seat® in your community today and make a difference.

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DRIVING AT NIGHT/FATIGUE• 61%ofteencrashdeathsoccurbetween

6pmand6am(Insurance Institute for Highway

Safety [IIHS])

• 90%ofadriver’sreactiondependsonvision,andvisionisverylimitedatnight (National Safety Council)

• Beingawakefor20hourshasthesameeffectasbeinglegallydrunk(National Sleep

Foundation)

DISTRACTIONS —likecellphones,textingandotherteenpassengers

• Twooutofthreeteensthatdieinmotorvehiclecrashesareinvehiclesdrivenbyotherteens(National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration [NHTSA])

• Thechancesofafatalcrashincreasesignificantlywiththeadditionofeachteenpassenger(Chen et al.)

• Textinganddrivingcausesreactiontimetodoubleandthosedrivershaveahardertimestayingintheirlaneandmaintainingaconsistentspeed(Texas Transportation

Institute)

• Adriverwhotalksonacellphoneisfourtimesmorelikelytobeinvolvedinaseriouscrash,evenwhenusingahands-freedeviceandtextingwhiledrivinghasbeenshowntoincreasecrashriskbyupto23times(Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

and Virginia Tech)

DRIVING FACTORSUnderstand the teen driver safety problem.

Now that you know the facts, where do you go from here?

SPEEDING/RACING• About50%ofyoungdriverand

passengerdeathsoccurinspeed-relatedcrashes(NHTSA)

• Whenteensdrivewithotherteenpassengers,theytendtodrivefaster (National Institute of Health and Westat)

• Acceleratingfrom30mphto60mphquadruplesthedistanceneededtostop(Drive and Stay Alive.com)

NOT WEARING A SAFETY BELT• 64%ofyoungdriversandpassengers

whodieinmotorvehiclecrashesarenotwearingsafetybelts(NHTSA)

• Safetybelts,whenusedproperly,reducethenumberofserioustrafficinjuriesby50%andfatalitiesby60-70% (James

Madison University Office of Public Safety)

• Youngmaledrivers,teenpassengersinthebackseatandpeoplelivinginruralareasareamongthoseleastlikelytobuckleup(NHTSA)

ALCOHOL/DRUGS• Aboutthreeinevery10Americanswill

beinvolvedinanalcohol-relatedcrashatsometimeintheirlife(NHTSA)

• 65%ofyoungdriversinfatalcrasheswhohavebeendrinkingarenotwearingsafetybelts(NHTSA)

• 16-to20-year-olddriverswithaBAC(bloodalcoholcontent)of.08orhigherareinvolvedin19%ofallfatalcrashes(NHTSA)

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STEP 1 –Identify project team.

WHO SHOULD DRIVE THE PROGRAM AT OUR SCHOOL?Anybodycan.Itcanbethestudentcouncil,anathleticassociationoracombinationoftentotwelverepresentativesfromseveraldifferentgroups.Youcouldevencreateanewgroupalto-gether.Thisgroupcanalsoexistoutsideofyourschool—likeacityteencourtoryouthcommis-sion.Assumethateveryonemaywanttohelp,eventhosestudentswhoarenotcurrentlyinvolvedinanotherprogram.Youneedallthemessengersyoucanget,andit’sbesttohavemanydifferentkindsofmessengers.Everyonehasapeergroup,nomatterhowsmallitmaybe.Themorepeergroupsthatyouinvolve,thebetterchanceyouhavetosucceed.

CAN TEENS IN THE DRIVER SEAT BE A COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT?Yes.Yourschoolorstudentorganizationmayhavecommunityservicerequirements.TeensintheDriverSeatcouldbejustwhatyouandyourschoolneed.

DO WE NEED TO WORK WITH AN ADULT?Anadultteacher/sponsorcanhelpdrivetheprogramatyourschoolandhelpwithresourcesyoumightneed.Someexamplesofateacher/sponsorareateacher,counselor,schoolnurse,studentcouncilsponsor,safetyofficeroranyschooladministrator.Creatingaformal“TeensintheDriverSeatTeam”atyourschoolwithanadultsponsorcanhelpmakeyourprogramevenmoresuccessful.

DO ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE TEAM NEED TO HAVE A DRIVER’S LICENSE?Eachyear,about25%ofyourschoolpopulationwillreceivetheirlearnerspermitorlicense.Itisnevertooearlytostarttellingteensaboutthedangerstheywillfaceandpassengersalsoplayanimportantroleinsafeteendriving.Anyonewithaninterestinsavingteenlivescanbeinvolved.Plus,whenallagegroupsareincludedontheteam,theprogramwillbemoresuccessfuleachschoolyear.

CAN WE WORK WITH OTHER SCHOOLS IN OUR COMMUNITY?Yes!SchoolsinyourareamayalreadyhaveanestablishedTeensinDriverSeatprogram.Ifnot,youcanintroducetheprogramtothemandworktogethertodelivermessagesandholdcommunityactivities.

Assessmentscanb

edone

duringclasstimes

:

StudyHall

Computerclass

English/Math/Sc

ience

Health

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It’sveryimportantthatmostofthestudentsinyourschoolparticipateintheassessments.Forlargeschools,havingatleast500studentsparticipateishelpful.Trytoincludeavarietyofstudents—allgradelevels,andbothdriversandnon-drivers.

STEP 2 – Find out what people know.

WHY IS THIS MEASUREMENT PROCESS IMPORTANT?• Doingpre-assessmentsatthebeginning

oftheprojecthelpsyoudecidewhatmessagesyouneedtospendthemosttimeon.Everyschoolisdifferent,sothisstephelpsyoucustomizeyourTeensintheDriverSeatprogramsoitwilldothegreatestgood.

• AftersharingtheTeensintheDriverSeatprogramwithyourpeers,thepost-assessmentshelpyouknowiftheprogramwassuccessful.Theseassessmentswillbetakenseveralmonthsaftertheprogramisinplace,andtheresultswillbecomparedwiththepre-assessmenttoseehowyourawarenesslevelandbehaviorhaschanged.

• Schoolsthatcompleteandreturnbothpre-andpost-assessmentscanberecognizedasanOutstandingSchool.Visitt-driver.comformoreinformation.

Beforetellingyourpeersaboutthetopdrivingdangers,youneedtofindoutjusthowmuchyourclassmatesknowabouttheseproblems.Thisisthemeasurementprocess.ThemeasurementisdonethroughashortassessmentprovidedbytheTexasTransportationInstitute(TTI)—yourpartnerintheTeensintheDriverSeatprogram—tofindoutwhatyourschoolknowsaboutdrivingdangersandbehaviorsamongteenagers.

Themeasurementprocessiscompletedintwophases.Thepre-assessmentshouldbedonebeforesharingtheTeensintheDriverSeatfactswithyourclassmates,ideallyinthefall.Post-assessmentsshouldbeconductedafteryouhavesharedtheTeensintheDriverSeatprogramwithyourschool,neartheendoftheschoolyear.

TTI will help you conduct assessments at your school to measure what students

know about driving dangers.

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t-driver.com

Nowit’stimetoshareTeensintheDriverSeatwithyourclassmates.Thisiswheremostoftherealworkhappens.

Jumpstartyourprogramwiththesefreetools:

• t-driver.com,theTeensintheDriverwebsite,haslotsofinformation,fromteenstoriestoschoolhighlights,andsomuchmore

• Freepromotionalmaterials,likewristbands,temporarytattoos,thumbringsandbannerstohelpspreadtheword

• T-shirtsforyourTeensintheDriverSeatteammembers

• TVmessagesandradiospotsthatyoucouldaskyourlocalstationstouseontheairorplayonyourschool’sclosed-circuitstation

• Informationonteendrivingstatisticsandrecentlegislation

• TheTeensintheDriverSeatlogoforyoutouseincreativeandnewways

Inaddition,yourregionalrepisalwaysavailabletoassistyou.Findyourregionalreponpage10.

STEP 3 – Tell them what they need to know.

Use free promotional items, downloadable posters and

media to help spread the message.

Freepromotionalmaterials

areprovidedeachschool

yearforteensinTexas.

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• AnnounceyournewTeensintheDriverSeatprogramtoyourlocalnewsmedia

• DeliversafetymessagesatsportseventsandschoolprogramsbyprintingthemwiththeTeensintheDriverSeatlogoandt-driver.comwebaddressonprogramsoronthebackofadmissiontickets

• Haverandomsafetybeltchecksinyourschoolparkinglotandgiveoutapromoitemtothosewearingtheirsafetybelts

• PutTeensintheDriverSeatflyersoncarsatschoolduringaSafetyWeek

• AskalocalbillboardcompanytosponsoraTeensintheDriverSeatbillboard

• DrawachalkoutlineofabodyinthehallwayofyourschoolwithaTeensintheDriverSeatmessageinside

• Constructapaperchaintodisplayinacommonareatoshowhowmanyteensdieeachyear

• WriteaboutTeensintheDriverSeatinyourschoolnewspaperoryearbook

• HighlightTeensintheDriverSeatonyourschool’swebsite

• AddalinktotheTeensintheDriverSeatwebsiteonyourpersonalsocialnetworkingwebpage

• Reada“tipoftheday”onthePAsystematyourschoolpromotingsafedriving

• Workwithcommunityorganizationstohelpspreadthemessage(Scouts,churches,clubs,drivingschools,etc.)

IDEAS TO GET YOU STARTEDConsider these ideas to help you spread the word.

• FootballSeason:Passoutcardboardfansatfootballgameswiththetopfivedangerslistedontheback.

• Halloween:“YouthoughtHalloweenwasscary!”Warnclassmatesabouttopdrivingdangers.

• Valentine’sDay:Setupaboothtosendcandygramsorflowerstotheircrushandincludeacardwithacatchysafetyslogan,like“Don’tbreakmyheart,drivesmart.”

• St.Patrick’sDay:“Youmaynotalwaysbesolucky.”Listthetopfivedrivingdangersonshamrocksandpostthemaroundyourschool.

• Prom:HaveparentsvaletparkcarsatpromandthenleaveaTeensintheDriverSeatairfreshenerinthestudent’scar.

• Graduation:Kissaseniorgoodbye—andgivecandykissestoseniorswithTeensintheDriverSeatsafetymessagesattached.

SEASONALLY THEMED IDEAS

Get more ideas att-driver.com and on our Facebook page or getcreative and come up with your own ideas.

TeensintheDriverSeatrewardssuccessfulandactiveschoolsthroughawardsandcontests.Watcht-driver.comfordetails.

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STEP 4 – Keep the program going.

This tragedy didn’t become an epidemic overnight. We won’t solve it overnight, either. The sooner you get started, the sooner you can make a difference.

Bygettingtherightmessagetoothers,youcanhelpstoptheepidemicthatkillsmoreteensinthiscountrythananyothercause.But,it’snotaone-timeeffort.

It’snotenoughtogettherightmessageout—youhavetogetthemessageouttimeandtimeagainsothatyourclassmatesareremindedaboutthedangersandwhattodoaboutthem.Newteensarelearningtodriveallthetimeinyourcommunity.

Nowthatyou’vebeenworkingontheprogramforseveralmonths,findouthowmuchprogressyouhavemadebyconductingthepost-assessment.ThisassessmentcanhelpyoudecideifyouneedtoadjustyourTeensintheDriverSeatprogramandspendmoretimeoncertainmessagesoractivities.Youmightfindthatpeoplereallygetthemessageaboutnighttimedrivingandcellphones,butthattheystilldon’tgetthemessageabouthavingotherteensinthecar.Afterreceivingyourassessmentresults,youmayneedtoadjustyourmessage,butitstillneedstofocusonthefivemajorteendriverdangers:

• Drivingatnight/fatigue

• Speeding/racing

• Distractions—likecellphones,textingandotherteenpassen-gers

• Notwearingasafetybelt

• Alcohol/drugs

CONTINUE THE PROGRAM EVERY YEAR

Beginplanningforthenewschoolyearnow.RemembernewstudentswillstartnextyearthatmaynothaveheardtheTeensintheDriverSeatmessage.TTIwillalsocontinuetosupportyourTeensintheDriverSeatprogrambyprovidingadditionalpromotionalitems,updatedwebsitecontent,regionalrepassistanceandmuchmore.

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Contact your regional rep to brainstorm ideas for your Teens in the Driver Seat program.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP

FOR ASSISTANCE OUTSIDE OF TEXAS, CALL 210-979-9411

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Brainstorm your activity ideas.KEEP THE MOMENTUM

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etails.Don’t forget, YOU drive the message.

RemembertheTeensintheDriverSeatprogramcanbecontinuouslyimplementedthroughouttheentireyear,especiallyduringthese

dangeroustimes:

Falltimechange(whenitgetsdarkerearlier)Winterholidaybreak

Springbreak/prom/graduation

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FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

A PEER-TO-PEER SAFETY PROGRAMTO HELP STOP THE NUMBER-ONE KILLER

OF TEENAGERS IN AMERICA.

RUSSELL HENKR-HENK@TAMU.EDU

210-979-9411

MY REGIONAL REP:

EMAIL:

PHONE: