The Parent’s Supervised Driving Program recognized for helping parents better coach their teen driver

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Michigan’s newest resource for the parents of teen drivers has won top honors from a national traffic-safety group today in Grand Rapids, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced.

The national Governors Highway Safety Association, made up of traffic-safety professionals from across the United States, awarded The Parent’s Supervised Driving Program the Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Award, given to recognize notable achievements in the field of highway safety.

Johnson, in partnership with the national safety group Safe Roads Alliance, launched Michigan’s program and a related smartphone application late last year to help parents coach their teen drivers. The program’s guidebook focuses on the important role of parents during the first phase of the Graduated Driver License program for teen drivers, providing a resource to help and encourage parents to expand upon the amount and diversity of their teen’s practice driving experience.

“Michigan has made great strides in reducing the number of crashes and fatalities involving teen drivers,” Johnson said. “The Parent's Supervised Driving Program is our latest effort to cut those numbers even more and help teens reach their destination safely. The program empowers parents by giving them the tools to better coach their teen and teach safe-driving skills.

“Traffic-safety research has consistently shown that parents are the most important part of a teen’s safe-driving education.”

The guide includes a detailed instruction plan, training tips and sample driving exercises that teens should practice. For example, it is recommended that practice sessions include driving in a variety of weather conditions and in unfamiliar settings to help teens gain experience before faced with these situations on their own.

Parents and teens are also encouraged to download the program’s free mobile app, RoadReady™, to track the time they spend together behind the wheel with the click of a button. The app is available from the App Store for iOS devices and will be available for Android devices in the future.

“Parents have a great influence over the way their teen drives,” said Jeff Larason, president of Safe Roads Alliance. “The Learner’s Permit phase is the last and best chance for parents to have a positive impact, and The Parent’s Supervised Driving Program guide and mobile app provide the tools that can help.”

Before teens can take a driving skills test and progress to a Level 2 license, they must practice driving with a licensed adult for at least 50 hours, 10 of which must be at night, as part of Michigan’s Graduated Driver License program.

The Parent's Supervised Driving Program is being printed and distributed at no cost to taxpayers thanks to a public-private partnership with Ford Motor Co. Parents receive a copy at a Secretary of State office when their teen applies for the Level 1 license, plus it’s available at www.michigan.gov/teendriver.

“The skills outlined in this guide are meant to help teens learn to be better drivers. It is one of the ways Ford works to help teens,” Steve Kenner, global director of Ford’s Automotive Safety Office said. “Our commitment to teen safe driving is at the heart of Ford’s Go Further brand promise, and we are very pleased to be a part of this achievement.”

The Governors Highway Safety Association award is the latest recognition of Michigan’s efforts to reduce teen-driving deaths and injuries. Earlier this year, Michigan’s driver-education and traffic-safety programs received high praise from a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-sponsored panel of national experts.

Michigan sought out national review and input in large part because motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of teen deaths in the United States, claiming about 3,000 lives each year, Johnson said. In 2013, drivers younger than age 21 were involved in 9 percent of all fatal vehicle crashes in Michigan.