TEEN DRIVING EQUATION CULTIVATES AND ENFORCES POSITIVE DRIVING SKILLS AND RESPONSIBILITIES AMONG TEENS

 

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens ages 14-18 in the United States. This fact is terrifying for all parents and law officers who are first to respond to the scene of an accident. Teen Driving Equation aims to prevent further unnecessary injuries and deaths by enforcing positive driving skills for teens so they develop safe driving habits for life.

Program Supervisor Angela Brockmann works with local school districts to bring in educational workshops and speakers like Chris Scalone, an auto safety advocate whose mother was paralyzed from the waist down after a motor vehicle collision. Speakers like Chris address issues like distracted and impaired driving with teens to help them understand the consequences of making bad decisions.

For the past few years, the Teen Driving Equation program has been hosting Teen Safety Day at Mount Sinai High School. Along with The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, New York State Troopers, Cox Media Group WBLI, and Sprague Operating Resources LLC, Teen Driving Equation provides hands-on activities that simulate the dangers of inexperienced, distracted, and impaired driving. Students have the opportunity to navigate go-carts while texting on their phones through a prearranged driving course. Special blurred goggles also allow students to experience the effects of alcohol and drugs on their vision while operating a motor vehicle.

We know it takes a village to raise our children. With that in mind, we emphasize the need for collaboration between parents, teens, and the community at large in order for teens to realize they play a crucial role in preventing motor vehicle crashes. We even provide a teen/parent driving contract in which your teen promises to practice safe driving habits. We all have a responsibility to our children and the contract shows that they also have a responsibility to us and their peers.

Each of us are accountable for our actions. We want to ensure that our teens make the right choices.

To learn more about the Teen Driving Equation program, click here.

Want us to host a teen driving safety day at your school? Contact Angela Brockmann here.

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Cassandra Huneke was the Development & Marketing Specialist at EAC Network. She graduated from Stony Brook University with a B.A. in English and is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Media Studies at The New School University in New York City.