I just wanted to make this community aware of a free national teen driving program called Driving Skills for Life. This is an award winning program that started in 2003 and has been traveling around the country engaging teen drivers on the dangers of the road and educating them on why car accidents are the number one cause of death in their age group. Driving Skills For Life offers hands on experience lead by professional drivers in the areas of distracted driving, vehicle handling and control, speed management, driving under the influence, and more. Parents are encouraged to get involved as well.
The next two events are:
Salt Lake City: June 20-21
Denver: July 22-23
Participation is completely free for teens with a permit or driver’s license. Teens must register online and have a parent signed waiver to participate. Registration, waivers and more information can be found at www.drivingskillsforlife.com or feel free to contact me.
I know that’s kind of a sales pitch on your part…
But…
what about obtaining a teen’s license early ? ( New Mexico )
I’ve heard of some getting a full license at 15 . How do they do that ?
I have a wonderfully capable 14 year old who I honestly believe should already have her permit .
I agree ken. Some teenagers are very capable of driving early and others are not. The ability is one thing but the emotional maturity to handle a very heavy vehicle out in traffic is another. I started driving when I was 13 or so by using the “Farm truck” approach. In Kentucky and a few other states…a teenager could drive a farm vehicle (my grandfather’s pickup) to town and back if the words “Farm truck” was printed on the door. No license needed. I was never pulled over and never had an accident. The program worked out for me but I don’t think it would work in this day and age because of the amount of traffic. I was only allowed to drive to one local town and back. I followed the letter of the law exactly and never deviated…honest I did.
A local raceway offers lessons at a not bad price, maybe a raceway does the same for you. As we are only up there occasionally we have not been able to take advantage of it.
Color me a bit cynical but a program like this sponsored by Ford Motor Company points to nothing more than spam. No doubt at these sessions there will be a lot of noble talk about safe Ford cars and mom and dad feeling a lot better if their child was behind the wheel of (insert Ford model here).
well I m all for showing teens pictures of crash scenes of teenage drivers complete with mangled bodies and explanations of the mistakes young drivers usually make.
as a father I had to deal with the grief of my son when his best friend and another boy died, complete with his soccer coach coming to my house at 1am to tell my son, who was camped out in the yard with friends.
the whole town is effected still, 6 yrs later.
teens often do not listen to reasonable explanations, but fear and seeing the carnage up close can have an effect
Yeah, OK, so it’s a corporate program. Unfortunately we live in a corporate America. But if I had a teen I’d still take him/her to one of these events. We all know we’re being marketed to constantly. what’s new? Here’s one time teens could actually learn something that might save their lives.
And, yes, this mom was paid by Ford to attend an event with her daughter and blog about it. But it does sound worthwhile nevertheless.
yeah, I m not a fan of spam or being sold anything I did not enquire about, but there are exceptions to most rules and I don t mindthis particular post
This program is put on by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association with the Ford Fund as a partner. Driving Skills for Life also partners with organizations in each city/state including the local police force, government officials, school districts, and Highway Safety Offices. The Ford Fund has given us the opportunity to offer this program completely free to teens all over the country by providing financial support and reliable vehicles.
Unfortunately, vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among teens. We encourage all parents to enroll their teen drivers in this program or something similar before they are given the freedom of the road.