October 23, 2006

News Release

Tyler, Whitehouse Teens Leading New Driver Safety Program

Across America, car crashes kill more teenagers than any other cause. This week, students from two Tyler-area high schools will step forward to fight this national epidemic at the local level.

Student leaders from Robert E. Lee and Whitehouse High Schools will hold a news conference Wednesday at 10 a.m. to launch “Teens in the Driver Seat,” a peer-driven program from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) that encourages teens to drive safely.

More than 16 young people die every day in crashes across the U.S., and October is statistically the most dangerous month of the year for teen drivers and passengers, according to TTI. Institute researchers attribute the crashes to inexperience, combined with one or more of the five main risks that plague young drivers: driving at night, distractions (cell phones and other teen passengers), speeding, low seat belt use, and alcohol.

Statewide surveys have shown that young drivers and their parents are largely unaware of those risks and their consequences, and a recent survey of Whitehouse students reflected the same lack of awareness. Only 4 percent of students recognize that driving at night is risky, the survey revealed. That’s particularly alarming, researchers say, with the end of daylight saving time coming on Sunday.

“Most young drivers don’t know that they’re 10 times more likely to die in a crash than people in other age groups,” says Dr. Karen Raney, Director of Secondary Schools for the Tyler Independent School District. “But they need to hear the message from a source they trust; they need to hear it from each other. That’s what Teens in the Driver Seat is all about.”

Teens in the Driver Seat, offered to area schools at no cost through support from the Texas Department of Transportation Tyler District, is the first peer-to-peer driving safety program in the nation. Tyler and Whitehouse are among the first cities in Texas to adopt the program. Unlike any other safety initiative targeting young people behind the wheel, TDS involves teens directly to help develop and deliver the right message.

TTI provides the science, program materials and background support for the TDS program, while each student group determines on its own how the program will work in their school. At Lee and Whitehouse, student groups are designing their own programs, which will be showcased on the TDS web site, www.t-driver.com.

More than 6,000 teens die every year in traffic crashes – the number one cause of death, by far, for this age group.

            “That’s the equivalent of a commercial jet loaded with teenagers crashing to the ground every week for an entire year,” says Russell Henk, a TTI Research Engineer and the Program Director for TDS. “But that’s not how these tragedies happen; they happen one or two at a time, which is why this problem isn’t getting the attention we believe it deserves. Teens in the Driver Seat intends to change that.”

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NOTE:  Wednesday’s 10 a.m. press conference will be held at the TxDOT District Office, 2709 West Front Street. Please inquire at the front desk of the main building to be directed to the briefing room.